A plea has been filed before the Supreme Court seeking removal of the doubtful voter category from electoral rolls. The bench headed by CJI SA Bobde has issued notice.

The petition has been filed by several affected parties who were ‘arbitrarily’ marked as doubtful voters in 1997, without getting an opportunity to be heard. They had even filed a(Right to information (RTI) application at the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) who responded that even though the Petitioners are marked as D-voters, no such records of putting the “D”-mark is available in the office.

The petitioners have stated that since the respondents have no documentation to justify their action of marking them as D-voters, that in itself makes it an arbitrary act and a violation of provisions of law and precedents. It is further stated that such arbitrary action is in continued violation of their rights under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (right to freedom), 21 (right to life and personal liberty), 325 and326 (adult suffrage) of the Constitution of India as well as their statutory rights under the Representation of the People Act (RP Act), 1950 and other laws in force, reported LiveLaw.

The petitioners state that under the RP Act creation of the category of “doubtful” or “dubious” voter is not provided for, and thus, it can be said that the category was created outside the legislative framework by the delegated authority of the Election Commission of India.

The petitioners highlight the provisions of the Representation of People Act that govern the process for getting included in electoral rolls. Section 23 of the Representation of People Act, prescribes the manner and lays down the prerequisites for inclusion in electoral rolls. Section 22 of the Act states that the ERO can amend, transpose or delete the entry “after proper verification of facts which includes giving reasonable opportunity to the person whose name is proposed to be deleted.

As per LiveLaw, the Petitioners have urged the Court to issue an order declaring that the process adopted by the Election Commission in marking “D” against their names on the electoral rolls, is arbitrary, illegal, and unconstitutional. They have also pleaded that their names be reinstated on the electoral rolls and the same be informed to the National Register of Citizens (NRC) authorities, and that they are compensated to the tune of Rs. 50,000 each for deprivation of their constitutional and statutory rights over the years.

The Doubtful voter

In 1997, more than 3 lakh people were marked as “doubtful voters” overnight, without any prior investigation. In the Sarbananda Sonowal, 2007 the Supreme Court had stressed upon the need of application of mind by the government before issuing such notices to people, who are to be declared ‘doubtful voter’ or D-voter. The court had said that a preliminary inquiry is warranted and the government cannot just act as a post office.

The result of the 1997 exercise of declaring D-voters has had long lasting implications which the next generation has had to bear the effects of. In its August 13, 2019 order the Supreme Court, following then NRC state co-ordinator’s recommendation, declared that even if one parent has been declared a D-voter, the descendant would, by that virtue, be left out of the final NRC list. And thus, the final NRC list was released by the end of that month. The D-voters who were declared so, are supposed to receive a notice from Foreigners Tribunals to prove their citizenship but even after decades, many of these D-voters are still disenfranchised with no opportunity to be heard.

The order may be read here.

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The EVM Conundrum: Concerns over EVMs not invalid, must be addressed

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The government, on December 3, was questioned by Asaduddin Owaisi about the number of D-voters presently in Assam The Ministry of Home Affairs responded that as of October 2019, there were 1,13,738 D-voters in Assam out of which 70,723 were females.

While these more than 1 lakh D-voters have been waiting to vote since more than 20 years now, the Election Commission had recently clarified that the people excluded from the final NRC did not automatically lose their voting rights; people who are already D-voters were barred from enrolment in the NRC though the two processes have so far been mutually exclusive. The excluded persons, basically continue to vote, until and if they are declared foreigners by the Foreigners Tribunal.

The D-voters also have to wait until their name is cleared by the Foreigners Tribunals so that they can call themselves citizens and get the tag of “D-voter” removed from the electoral list.

As per a Chief Electoral Officer of Assam, as of March,2019 there were 1.20 lakh D-voters in Assam and he said, “The number has come down, compared to last year as some cases have been disposed off by tribunals”

One of the D-Voters, Bishnu Khatriyo, told Deccan Herald, that most of the D-voters in the refugee colony where he was living claim that they or their parents had fled their ancestral homes in neighbouring Bangladesh in 1964 due to “religious persecution” and were provided shelters by Jawaharlal Nehru-government in Goalpara and Kamrup districts in eastern Assam. “We were provided land here by the government during Indira Gandhi’s time. How can the government deny us citizenship and right to vote after so many years? Please tell the government to give our voting rights back,” Khatriyo said.

Big question, small answer

On the same day, the government was questioned on instances where name of some members of a family has been featured in NRC list while some others have been left out. But the government, clearly begged indifference to the same. In response the government mentioned how NRC is governed by Section 14A of the Citizenship Act and The Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and Issue of National Identity Cards) Rules and how NRC was prepared under direct supervision of the Supreme Court. This is the kind of response the government has chosen to give whenever questioned about the NRC process in Assam.

Related:

Marked as ‘Doubtful’, 1.2 Lakh Voters Left Out of Electoral Rolls in Assam
Give back our voting rights: ‘D’ voters in Assam
8 Year Old Declared D-Voter in Assam
Maharashtra: Name in doubtful list, Assam woman says ‘painful to not be able to vote’
CJP in Action: As the election rages on, volunteers work tirelessly in Assam

Bengali Hindu couple falsely accused of using fake legacy person

What next for those left out of the NRC?

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Although Santi Rani Chanda had all the relevant documents to prove that she is an Indian citizen, she received a ‘Suspected Foreigner’ notice in the early part of 2018. After receiving the Foreigners notice, Binoy Chanda approached senior advocate and prominent writer Omar Ali Choudhury, and took his mother to the Foreigners’ Tribunal of the Baksa district so that she could be proved an Indian citizen. For the last seven months, Binoy, along with his mother repeatedly appeared before the Foreigners’ Tribunal, and collected all documents by which her rights to citizenship could be protected. In the process, Binoy, a daily wage labourer, had to spend all the money that he could earn in collecting documents and travelling. His debts increased day by day. In spite of this, he seemingly felt that there was no sign of hope that his mother would be declared an Indian citizen because of what he perceived was the bias of the member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal. He became increasingly frustrated, and finally took the extreme step of suicide.

Binoy’s mother, Santi Rani Chanda, said, “I myself have all valid documents to prove myself an Indian citizen. I have migration certificate of 1964 along with my family, which is enough to prove myself an Indian citizen. But the member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal under whom my case is pending did not attend to my advocate’s arguments. Thus, my son Binoy Chanda became depressed, that I am going to be declared a ‘Foreigner’. In this situation, he found no option but took the supreme decision.”

Notice served to the Chanda family by the Foreigners’ Tribunal, Baksa District

Santi Rani Chanda expressed her displeasure over the functioning of the Foreigners’ Tribunal. She said, “As per the dates given by the Foreigners’ Tribunal, my son took me to the Tribunal on each and every occasion, but in maximum number of occasions, I found that the Member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal was absent. So, another date was given to us. But our problem was that to attend the Tribunal, my son had to spend his working day and had to spend huge sum of money for our travel, which was beyond his capacity.” Adhir Arya, All Bengali Youth-Student’s Federation leader of Tamulpur district said, “It is quite unbelievable that thousands of genuine Indian citizens have been harassed by the Foreigners’ Tribunals on the behest of the present government. The response of the government towards the genuine Indian citizens is most irresponsible.”

Advocate and writer Omar Ali Choudhury, who represents Santi Rani Chanda, was shocked to hear the news of Binoy’s suicide. He said that her case is ongoing, adding, “The Member of the Foreigners’ Tribunal, Baksa at Tamulpur is working like an obedient servant of the present government of Assam. He is working like a machine to make Foreigners without any justification. Whatever the genuine documents submitted to this Tribunal, it doesn’t matter to him. He sets aside all documents and declares Foreigners whimsically. Till now about 100 cases has been disposed in his Tribunal, where only four cases have received positive results. Many people in the Dimlapar village have been declared Foreigners during his tenure of four months in this Tribunal. Before Tamulpur, he was a Member of Foreigners Tribunal-1, Nalbari.” According to Choudhury, in that Tribunal, the Member disposed 249 cases, in which he rejected “all just and genuine documents,” and only nine people were declared Indian citizens. The advocate said that Binoy Chanda was aware of this, and that he took an extreme decision out of frustration.

Santi Rani Chanda’s Relief Eligibility Certificate containing date of arrival from erstwhile East Pakistan
 

Santi Rani Chanda’s Relief Eligibility Certificate Page 2
 

Related:

Bengali Hindu labeled “Bangladeshi”, found dead in Assam Detention Camp
Exclusion from NRC allegedly leads to two suicides in Assam
Assam man forced to prove Indian citizenship four times
 

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