Senior Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, has approached the Supreme Court seeking “urgent intervention” in what he calls a matter of “grave constitutional significance” linked to the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in the state.
In a letter to the Chief Justice of India dated Jan. 28, Saikia urged the SC to take suo motu cognisance of what he described as the “widespread, arbitrary and discriminatory misuse of Form-7” under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
Saikia wrote that the situation “has transcended the realm of administrative irregularity and has assumed the character of a constitutional crisis.” He alleged that the right to vote under Article 326 of the Constitution “is being systematically undermined through executive interference, communal targeting and misuse of statutory procedures.”
The letter comes as Assam prepares for Assembly elections later this year, with the Special Revision turning into a political controversy. Saikia referred to repeated media briefings and statements by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma targeting a particular community. He alleged that it has been stated publicly by the CM that notices under the Special Revision “are being deliberately served only upon a particular community, namely the ‘Miya' (Bengali-origin Muslim) population.”
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According to Saikia, Sarma has said such notices are meant to “keep them under pressure” and “make them suffer.” He also claimed the Chief Minister has said the government is deliberately putting pressure on them, and that the notices, eviction drives and border police action are part of a planned and ongoing approach.
Saikia added that these statements amount to “an open confession” that the Special Revision and Form-7 are being used “not for their lawful purpose, but as instruments of intimidation, harassment and targeted disenfranchisement of a particular community.”
The senior Congress leader claimed that “a large number of persons now being targeted for deletion are ordinary residents of Assam for decades, many since Independence,” and said they were included in earlier electoral rolls, including the 1996 revision conducted by the Election Commission of India.
He also cited Section 62 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which gives citizens a legal right to vote, and warned that removing names without a proper reason would wrongly take away that right. Saikia alleged that the misuse of Form-7, intended only for “genuine and limited objections,” has converted a regulatory mechanism into a “weapon of mass voter suppression.”
Saikia urged the Supreme Court to take suo motu notice of the issue and direct the Election Commission of India to carry out the process as per the law. He also pleaded that no voter's name should be removed without proper checks, prior notice, a fair hearing and a valid reason.
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