"Like taking soul from body": Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on deleting voters without hearing

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, delivering the valedictory address at the 19th Justice BR Sawhney Memorial Moot Court Competition at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad, on October 4, spoke about the right to vote and the deletion of names from electoral rolls. Justice Bhuyan said Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 permits deletion of an entry in the voters list only after the voter is given a reasonable opportunity of being heard. He said the Constitution does not provide for two classes of citizens, and that any process leading to wholesale disenfranchisement would, in his view, violate Articles 326 and 14. Justice Bhuyan did not name the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) or the Election Commission of India. His address comes amid a political row over the SIR. The Election Commission has maintained that the exercise is authorised under Article 324 and that its decisions were unanimous.