Politics
42 retired judges defend Election Commission on SIR
Livemint··4d ago
Forty-two retired judges backed the Election Commission and its special intensive revision of electoral rolls. Their open letter included former Supreme Court and high court judges. They called attacks on constitutional bodies a campaign without evidence. INDIA bloc leaders allege CEC Gyanesh Kumar is tilting rolls toward the BJP. The BJP and the Commission dismissed the charge.
Prism
What It Means For You
- The letter treats SIR of electoral rolls as a lawful Election Commission process.
- Voters hearing theft or puppet labels against poll officials are told those claims lack court proof, the judges said.
- Opposition protests in Delhi continued into a third day on Thursday, Livemint reported.
What's Happening
- The letter was dated October 7 and addressed to the people of India, PTI reported.
- The judges said electoral law lets the Commission revise rolls whenever required.
- They said the most recent comparable revision was around two decades ago.
How the letter frames scrutiny
- The former judges said criticism of institutions is a democratic right, but denigration is not.
- They wrote that silence is no longer a neutral choice.
- Rahul Gandhi held an eight-hour sit-in at Akashvani Bhawan during the wider protest week.
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