Context:

• As the Election Commission of India (ECI) conducts a new phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across several states, Opposition parties have accused it of attempting a “backdoor NRC”, drawing parallels with the National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise carried out in Assam.
• The Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) clarified that the second phase of the SIR would exclude Assam, which faces elections next year.
• He stated that citizenship verification in Assam, being conducted under Supreme Court supervision as per the Citizenship Act, 1955, is nearing completion.
• The situation raises questions about the ECI’s jurisdiction and overlap with citizenship determination, a process typically beyond the poll body’s constitutional mandate.
• This article highlights the controversy surrounding the ECI’s SIR of electoral rolls and the jurisdictional concerns it raises, particularly in Assam—a state with a unique legal and historical framework on citizenship under Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955.

ECI’s Jurisdiction Questioned in Citizenship Verification

• A major criticism of the SIR in Bihar was that the ECI allegedly sought citizenship proof from individuals not on the 2003 electoral rolls, using limited documentation.
• This move conflicted with the ECI’s own guidelines, which require that cases of doubtful citizenship be referred to the competent authority under the Citizenship Act, 1955, rather than being decided by the Commission itself.
• Assam’s Exception and the Legal Dilemma
  • In excluding Assam from the current SIR, the ECI cited that citizenship ascertainment there was “about to be completed.”
  • However, critics argue this reasoning conceals a jurisdictional issue:
    • any fresh verification in Assam would overlap with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), already prepared under Supreme Court supervision.
    • This would require re-evaluating citizenship in a state where that process has legally concluded.
• NRC in Assam: A Completed Legal Exercise
• The final NRC in Assam was published on August 31, 2019, after five years of work under the Supreme Court’s direct monitoring.
  • Total Applicants:3.30 crore 
  • Included in NRC: 3,11,21,004 people
  • Excluded: 19,06,657 people
• The process was a constitutionally valid, large-scale verification of citizenship, making Assam the only Indian state to have completed such an exercise post-Independence.
• Why the CEC’s Justification Falls Short?
  • The Chief Election Commissioner’s claim that Assam’s citizenship verification is still underway is misleading, as the NRC process concluded in 2019.
  • Reopening the issue risks duplicating an already settled legal process and would exceed the ECI’s constitutional jurisdiction, effectively turning it into a parallel citizenship tribunal, which the law does not permit.
  • Subjecting Assam’s residents to another round of scrutiny would erode public trust, strain administrative resources, and disturb the fragile social fabric of the state.
  • The ECI should limit itself to its constitutional mandate — ensuring free and fair elections — rather than engaging in citizenship determination, a function that lies solely with authorities empowered under the Citizenship Act.

Section 6A: Assam’s Distinct Citizenship Framework Upheld by Supreme Court

• At the core of Assam’s citizenship debate lies Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, introduced in 1985 under the Assam Accord.
• This provision established a special legal regime for Assam, setting unique cut-off dates for identifying and deporting foreigners — separate from the rest of India.
• In October 2024, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, in In Re: Section 6A of the Citizenship Act, 1955, upheld its constitutional validity, recognising it as a special measure tailored for Assam’s historical and demographic realities.
• The Court held that Section 6A aligns with the constitutional value of fraternity and affirmed that Assam’s citizenship issues must be treated with distinct legal and political sensitivity, not through a uniform national approach.

Why ECI Must Tread Carefully in Assam’s Citizenship-Linked Voter Revision?

• Assam’s citizenship and migration issues have long been legally distinct from the rest of India, shaped by decades of court rulings and the unique framework under Section 6A of the Citizenship Act.
• Given this exceptional legal context, any Special Intensive Revision (SIR) by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in Assam that touches upon citizenship verification must proceed with extreme caution.
• While some argue that the NRC data—finalised in August 2019 under Supreme Court supervision after extensive stakeholder consultations—could be used to expedite the process, the ECI faces a complex dilemma.
• Using or disregarding the NRC could risk inconsistencies between the NRC and the voters’ list, potentially excluding eligible citizens and undermining public trust in electoral and institutional integrity.