Opposition writes to CJI, raises concerns over SIR
NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary K C Venugopal on Friday said that 24 Opposition parties and an Independent MP had written to the Chief Justice of India over concerns related to the Election Commission of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process and other election-related issues.Sharing the contents of the letter, Venugopal said the communication, dated June 28, raised objections to what the Opposition described as flaws in the SIR process and the functioning of the Election Commission.”Electoral democracy in our country faces the gravest of threats from the Modi-Shah regime. On 28th June, 24 Opposition Parties along with an Independent MP wrote to the Hon’ble Chief Justice of India on the flawed SIR process, the partisan role of the Election Commission of India and other election-related issues,” Venugopal said in a post on X. Venugopal said the judiciary has a constitutional responsibility to safeguard democracy and act as a check on the executive. He said the Supreme Court has a key role in ensuring that elections remain free and fair, and are perceived to be so by the public. He added that failure to uphold these principles would undermine the rights of the country’s 1.4 billion voters.”We are releasing this letter, in the interest of transparency, and in the hope that the Hon’ble Supreme Court will take the firm steps urgently required to restore the integrity and accoutability of and faith in the election process of crores of our people,” Venugopal said,” Venugopal said. Earlier this week, the INDIA bloc wrote to Chief Justice of India Surya Kant raising concerns over the Election Commission’s ongoing SIR of the electoral rolls and other election-related issues.In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the letter was signed by representatives of 23 Opposition parties and one Independent MP who attended the INDIA bloc meeting on June 8.Meanwhile, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien said the joint letter to the Chief Justice of India was also signed by the Aam Aadmi Party and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, although the two parties are no longer part of the INDIA bloc.In the letter, the Opposition leaders said it was being addressed to the Supreme Court through the Chief Justice of India and was “not intended to influence the decision of any cause pending before any court.”The signatories alleged that “there was complete lack of transparency and administrative confusion in the implementation of this process exacerbated by the timeframe within which it was required to be done.”They further claimed that the Election Commission’s instructions were changed midway at different stages of the process, leading to confusion among election officials.
