Group of 42 ex-judges defends SIR, slams opposition attack on Election Commission

File photo: Opposition's anti-SIR stir

NEW DELHI: A group of 42 retired judges on Thursday slammed the opposition's attack on Election Commission, claiming that it appeared to be a calculated campaign driven by "vested political interests" with little regard for the potentially devastating consequences of destabilising the world's largest democracy. "India's constitutional bodies are under sustained attack. EC stands at the centre of this assault. Even the higher judiciary, which we hold in high esteem, and statutory agencies have not been spared. These attacks are not reasoned critique," they said in an open letter. Former Supreme Court judges Hemant Gupta and Pankaj Mittal and several former chief justices of high courts, besides retired judges of various HCs were signatories to the statement, which defended the EC's Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls, arguing that a clean roll protected every genuine vote. They said they held no brief for any political party but in moments like these, silence was no longer a neutral choice. Constitutional authorities were now branded "thieves", "puppets" and "compromised" from public platforms, they said in a reference to EC's sharp criticism by opposition functionaries and organisations like CJP. Targeting Congress, they said: "EVMs are blamed only after defeat. Victories won on the same machines go unquestioned. A party that governed this nation for over five decades now claims that the very system which elected it is rigged." They said activist outfits with a long record of selective litigation lent these claims a veneer of legality. "They file petitions one after the other. They seldom file proof. The courtroom becomes a stage, and when the judgement is delivered, it is criticised whenever it does not serve their interests."

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The uproar over SIR appeared both sudden and remarkably convenient, the judges said. "Tell citizens often enough that their vote does not count, and they stop believing in the ballot. When the ballot loses meaning, the street gains it. Unrest begins with a narrative. Anarchic and fringe elements then occupy the vacuum," the group said. While some of these groups were homegrown, some took their cues from beyond borders, they alleged. They appealed to political parties to not delegitimise elections and take their grievances to EC and the courts with evidence.

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