‘BJP will decide who can vote and who cannot’: Petitioner Yogendra Yadav on SC verdict upholding SIR by EC

POlitical activistic Yogendra Yadav on midweek reacted to the sublime margaret court determination backing the Election Commission’s powers to conduct the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, saying that one of the petitioners in the matter, he was not surprised by the judgment because had been “decided long ago”.On Wednesday, the apex court ruled that the SIR exercise supported the constitutional requirement of free and fair elections. It also said that the steps taken by the Election Commission were lawful, proportionate, and that sufficient procedural safeguards were in place.Litigant Yogendra Yadav on SC’s SIR verdictYadav said the Supreme Court's decision in the matter had been predictable and claimed that the ruling BJP would decide "who can vote and who cannot".The political activist and election analyst strongly criticised the apex court ruling. He claimed the court had shifted away from reviewing the constitutional validity of the exercise and instead "focused on grievance redressal and arbitration".In a post on X after the verdict, Yadav said he chose not to attend the SC proceedings for the SIR case because he believed the result had become clear much earlier.He wrote, “As a litigant in this case, and as someone who was given the honour of addressing the court, I should have been hopeful, anxious or at least curious. I was not. The case was decided long ago.The court moved away from examining the constitutionality of SIR and effectively converted itself into a Consumer Forum, focused on grievance redressal and arbitration, rather than constitutional principles.” He said the issue had been "effectively decided" when the apex court allowed the Election Commission to continue preparations for the Bihar assembly elections before ruling on the constitutional challenge. He also said no instructions were given to address what he described as "glaring defects" in the electoral rolls after the SIR exercise.Yadav said the continuation of the SIR process during the hearings had weakened the challenge considerably."SIR had become a fait accompli," he said, adding that observations made during the hearings, which suggested that nobody would be allowed to block the exercise, reflected the court's stand.In some of his strongest comments, he said the judgment had "authorised the disenfranchisement of millions of citizens, at least 59 million so far, that could go up eventually to 100 million.”‘BJP will decide who can vote’In another post, Yadav said the impact of the decision went beyond simply giving legal backing to the SIR process. "The news is not that the Supreme Court has today declared the Election Commission's SIR to be constitutional. The real news is that now in this country, the BJP will decide who can vote and who cannot," he said.He also said that parts of the Constitution, which he called "perhaps the last pillar" protecting democratic institutions, had "broken and fallen today".With inputs from agencies