Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan on Sunday said that any process which disenfranchises millions of Indian citizens is intrinsically arbitrary and a negation of the constitutional order.
No whataboutery can justify the act of taking away voting rights of citizens, he criticised.
"If any process results in disenfranchising millions and millions of Indian citizens making them second class citizens in their own country in the sense of being citizens without voting rights, such a process is intrinsically arbitrary. No amount of whataboutery can justify it. It strikes at the very heart of the Constitution and I would go to the extent of saying that it is a negation of the constitutional order which we have adopted under the Constitution of India," he said.
Justice Bhuyan was delivering the valedictory address at the 19th NALSAR-Justice BR Sawhney Memorial Moot Court Competition at NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.
"Indian Constitution does not provide for two classes of citizens: citizens with voting rights and citizens without voting rights. Any process which leads to wholesale disenfranchisement of Indian citizens making them citizens without voting rights would be violative of Articles 326 and 14 of the Constitution of India," he said.
He made clear that no institution was exempt.
"No authority can do it; no court can condone it. No one is above the Constitution," he declared.
On the deletion of names from electoral rolls, Justice Bhuyan was categorical.
"Except in the case of a dead voter, the name of a voter once enlisted in the electoral roll cannot be deleted without notice and hearing. From the persona of an Indian citizen, the right to vote or right to be included in the voters list cannot be detached. It will be like taking out the soul from the body."
Except in the case of a dead voter, the name of a voter once enlisted in the electoral roll cannot be deleted without notice and hearing.Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
In his view, the right to vote is part of the basic structure of the Constitution.
He noted that the Supreme Court has held in several judgments that voting is not a fundamental right, though it has recognised it as a constitutional right.
"Therefore, in my view, the right of an Indian citizen to cast his vote is central to the basic structure doctrine itself," he said.
He tied the right to India's independence struggle.
"Indian citizens’ right to vote is intertwined with India’s long years of struggle against foreign rule. It is a manifestation of our freedom achieved after so much of struggle and sacrifice. Article 326 cannot be tinkered with at all," he said.
Indian citizens’ right to vote is intertwined with India’s long years of struggle against foreign rule. It is a manifestation of our freedom achieved after so much of struggle and sacrifice.Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
Recalling the founding fathers' faith in the common man, he said,
"One may be a billionaire, and one may be a rickshaw puller; yet both will have their votes, and the value of their votes would be equal."
Invoking US judge Justice Felix Frankfurter's remark that the highest office in a democracy is that of the citizen, Justice Bhuyan asked:
"And what is the worth of a citizen without her voting right."