Five retired judges, led by former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B. Lokur, will hold public hearings across the country on the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, under a commission set up by a lawyers’ body to test whether the exercise kept every eligible voter on the rolls.
New Delhi: The Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC) on October 2 announced an independent commission of five former Supreme Court and High Court judges to examine the constitutional validity, methodology and impact of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The commission will be chaired by Justice Madan B. Lokur, former judge of the Supreme Court. Its other members are Justice A.K. Patnaik, former Supreme Court judge; Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, former Chief Justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court; Justice Rekha Sharma, former judge of the Delhi High Court; and Justice Anjana Prakash, former judge of the Patna High Court.
What the commission will examine
According to the LAFC’s press release, the commission has been set up in response to concerns raised by citizens about the design, implementation and consequences of the SIR. It will look at whether the exercise ensured that every eligible citizen stayed on the electoral rolls while ineligible entries were properly removed, and will cover the constitutional and statutory validity of the revision, its methodology and its overall impact on eligible voters.
That test mirrors the ECI’s own stated objective for the SIR, which the poll body has described as ensuring that no eligible elector is left out and no ineligible person is included in the rolls.
How it will work
The commission will hold public hearings in different parts of the country, sitting as a full bench and in regional benches, and will hear testimony from affected citizens, civil society groups and experts. A Research Wing will compile and analyse data on additions to and deletions from electoral rolls nationwide and place its findings before the commission, while a Legal Support Team will examine the relevant legislation, notifications and verification processes for compliance with constitutional safeguards.
Senior Advocates Kapil Sibal, Prashant Bhushan, Chander Uday Singh, Prashanto Chandra Sen and Raju Ramachandran, and Advocates Rebecca Mammen John, Warisha Farasat and Vrinda Grover, among others, will provide legal assistance. A coordination committee and secretariat at the LAFC will handle operational support.
The press release states that the commission alone will be responsible for its findings and recommendations, and that neither the LAFC nor the supporting committees will influence the substantive conclusions of the former judges. The commission aims to complete its inquiry and make its final report public by December 2026.
A non-statutory inquiry
The commission is a private, citizen-led initiative. It has no statutory powers of the kind a commission under the Commissions of Inquiry Act would have, cannot compel the ECI or any authority to appear or produce records, and its findings will not bind the poll body or any court. Questions about the legality of the SIR remain the subject of litigation before the Supreme Court and High Courts, which alone can rule on them.
The ECI had not publicly responded to the commission’s constitution at the time of writing.
Constituted by: Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC)
Chair: Justice Madan B. Lokur (former Supreme Court judge)
Members: Justice A.K. Patnaik, Justice Badar Durrez Ahmad, Justice Rekha Sharma and Justice Anjana Prakash
Target date for final report: December 2026