SC Upholds Legality of Contentious SIR; Rubio’s India Visit: Routine or Effort to Stabilise Relationship?; Srinagar Authorities Prohibit Mass Eid Prayers on Eidgah Grounds For the Eighth Year
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Snapshot of the day
May 27, 2026
Sidharth Bhatia
In what is perceived to be the final nail in the coffin of the mass disenfranchisement under the Modi-led government, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi today upheld the legality of the Election Commission’s contentious special intensive revision of voter rolls across the country starting in Bihar, ruling that it is in line with the “constitutional imperative of free and fair elections” and was not disproportionate in nature:
“The measures adopted bear a rational nexus to the objective sought to be achieved, are not manifestly excessive, and are accompanied by sufficient procedural safeguards to prevent arbitrary exclusion. The impugned exercise was founded upon a legitimate and constitutionally grounded purpose, namely, the restoration of the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of the electoral rolls … the measures adopted by the Commission cannot be said to be disproportionate to the object sought to be achieved.”
It also said that the poll body is empowered to carry out a limited inquiry into someone’s citizenship vis-a-vis their eligibility as electors but its decision does not amount to a final call on their status as citizens. In this regard it directed the commission to refer the cases of those people it found ineligible for inclusion in Bihar’s roll to the competent authority in the Union government for a final decision on their citizenship. If they are found to have been citizens all along, they are to be included in the voter list.
It is worth noting that so far SIR has struck off over 6.13 crore voters in 10 states and 3 union territories. Yet, the ECI hasn’t disclosed how many of them were illegal immigrants. In one of the hearings, when SC had asked ECI the same, its counsel didn’t have an answer.
Sharp important points by activist Yogendra Yadav on why this order today could be the “ADM Jabalpur of our times, I will wait for the review by history.” Watch his conversation alongside senior advocate Sanjay Hegde with Sarvasti Dasgupta below:
In a second physical meeting between the two sides since the February joint statement agreeing on a framework for an interim agreement regarding reciprocal and mutually beneficial trade, US negotiators
