New Delhi: The Lawyers’ Association for Constitution (LAFC) has announced the formation of a five-member independent inquiry panel to investigate the recent voter roll revision exercise conducted across India.
Designated as the ‘Independent Commission of Former Judges on the Special Intensive Revision of Electoral Rolls’, the panel will be chaired by former Supreme Court judge Madan B. Lokur.
The other four members are former Supreme Court judge A.K. Patnaik, former Chief Justice of the Jammu & Kashmir High Court Badar Durrez Ahmad, former Delhi High Court judge Rekha Sharma, and former Patna High Court judge Anjana Prakash.
The panel, the lawyer’s body states, was constituted in response to growing concerns raised by citizens regarding the design, implementation, and consequences of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls undertaken by the Election Commission.
The body will function with “complete autonomy to examine the constitutional and statutory validity, methodology, and overall impact of the SIR exercise on eligible voters”.
The inquiry will operate on an expedited schedule, with a target to release its final report to the public by December.
What panel will do
Outlining its core purpose, the commission stated that it “will independently evaluate whether the SIR exercise ensured that every eligible citizen was retained while ineligible entries were properly excluded”. To accomplish this, the panel has outlined a three-part operational strategy.
First, nationwide public hearings: Full and regional benches of the panel will travel across the country to hear testimony directly from affected citizens, civil society groups, and experts.
Second, empirical and field research: A dedicated research wing will collate and analyse the data regarding voter roll additions/deletions across the country and present it before the panel.
And third is legal scrutiny. A legal support team will review relevant legislation, notifications, and verification processes to assess compliance with constitutional safeguards.
The panel will receive legal advice from prominent senior legal practitioners, including Supreme Court senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Chander Uday Singh, Raju Ramachandran; Delhi High Court senior advocates Prashanto Chandra Sen, Rebecca Mammen John, Warisha Farasat; and advocates Prashant Bhushan, Vrinda Grover.
A “coordination team featuring prominent civic voices” will provide operational support and house the secretariat at LAFC. Importantly, the press release emphasises that “neither the sponsoring organisations nor supporting committees will influence the substantive decisions, conclusions, or recommendations of the judges”, noting that the panel retains sole responsibility for all final findings and recommendations.
LAFC, according to its website, is a lawyers’ association built around a single ideology: the Preamble to the Indian Constitution. It was formed on Independence Day this year. Calling itself as “non-partisan, secular, non-casteist”, it is open to every lawyer who takes that seriously.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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