Voters shut out by the SIR will get a hearing before five retired judges. The panel, set up by a lawyers’ association and led by Justice Lokur, will deliver its report in December.
The Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC) announced on Friday, October 2, an independent commission of five former Supreme Court and High Court judges to examine the Election Commission of India’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The commission is chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur.
Its members are former Supreme Court judge Justice A.K. Patnaik, former Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, former Delhi High Court judge Justice Rekha Sharma and former Patna High Court judge Justice Anjana Prakash.
What it will examine
The commission will look at the constitutional and statutory validity of the SIR, its methodology and its overall impact on eligible voters. According to the LAFC, it will independently evaluate whether the exercise retained every eligible citizen while properly excluding ineligible entries. It will hear testimonies from affected citizens, civil society groups and experts, and plans nationwide public hearings and field research. It aims to release its final report by December 2026.
The LAFC said the panel was formed in response to growing citizen concerns about the design, implementation and consequences of the SIR. It added that the commission will bear sole responsibility for its findings and recommendations, and that neither the sponsoring organisation nor its supporting committees will influence its conclusions. A coordination committee and secretariat based at the LAFC will give operational support.
Senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, Chander Uday Singh, Prashanto Chandra Sen and Raju Ramachandran, along with advocates Rebecca Mammen John, Warisha Farasat and Vrinda Grover, will provide legal assistance.
A parallel inquiry
The commission is not a statutory body, and the Election Commission is under no obligation to respond to it. But it enters a debate already shaped by citizens’ audits. Justice Lokur was among the signatories of the people’s tribunal letter on Delhi’s Mangolpuri, which found hundreds of residents excluded from the SIR lists despite living at their registered addresses. The Commission has also come under scrutiny over the roughly 13 crore names struck off draft rolls in 30 states and Union Territories.
The Election Commission’s response to the panel was not available at the time of writing. It has maintained that the SIR aims to ensure the accuracy of electoral rolls.
The question the retired judges have set themselves is this, did the SIR keep every eligible voter on the rolls? By December, the country will have an answer that doesn’t come from the Commission itself.
Image credits: Hindustan Times
