Is the right to vote a fundamental right ? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters ?
🧭 How to think about this question · directive: “is / discuss / can”
Decode the demand
- Three directives, three parts: 'is' asks for a clear legal position on the right to vote; 'discuss' asks for the ECI's powers and their limits in roll revision; 'can' asks a yes/no with its boundary on citizenship. Each gets a heading.
- The issue in one line: a body with plenary power over rolls (Article 324) touching a question, citizenship, that another law reserves for other authorities.
- The trap: writing 'statutory right' and stopping. The examiner wants the layered position: statutory in form, constitutional in base, fundamental in exercise, with the cases for each layer.
- Carry authority: Articles 324, 325, 326; RP Acts 1950 and 1951; Jyoti Basu, PUCL, Mohinder Singh Gill, Lal Babu Hussein; the Bihar SIR ruling for the citizenship limit.
Think in a structure
- Open with the paradox: Article 326 promises suffrage, yet courts call the vote statutory; then turn to why that matters for roll revision.
- One heading per directive; each point = legal keyword + the provision or case + what it means for the voter. A flowchart of the revision process and a yes/no table for citizenship are the two visuals.
- End positively: measures a CEO or ERO can actually take (inclusion, transparency, appeal), then the ECI's own 'No Voter to Be Left Behind' theme as the anchor.
Facts checked at source (4)· open
- Article 324(1) vests the superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of electoral rolls in the Election Commission.The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024) - Legislative Department ↗“The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State”
- Article 325: no person is ineligible for inclusion in the electoral roll on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex.The Constitution of India (as on 1 May 2024) - Legislative Department ↗“no person shall be ineligible for inclusion in any such roll or claim to be included in any special electoral roll for any such constituency on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.”
- The ECI's 9th National Voters' Day (2019) carried the theme 'No Voter to Be Left Behind'.National Voters' Day brochure - Election Commission of India (PIB) ↗“this year marks the 9th National Voters’ Day with theme ‘No Voter to Be Left Behind’ ahead of Lok Sabha 2019 Election.”
- Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023): until Parliament made a law, the CEC and Election Commissioners were to be appointed on the advice of a committee of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (Constitution Bench, 2 March 2023), final relief para 239 ↗“the advice tendered by a Committee consisting of the Prime Minister of India, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and, in case, there is no such Leader, the Leader of the largest Party in the Opposition in the Lok Sabha having the largest numerical strength, and the Chief Justice of India.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper II — paper ↗. Guidance: Minimalist IAS, checked 8 Nov 2026 (how we verify). ·
Model answer· 421words · Minimalist IAS
Article 326 promises adult suffrage to every citizen aged 18, yet Jyoti Basu (1982) and Kuldip Nayar (2006) called the vote a statutory right. The answer, statutory in form yet constitutional in status, decides how far the Election Commission may go when it revises electoral rolls.
Is the right to vote a fundamental right?
- Statutory in origin: from N.P. Ponnuswami (1952) onwards, the vote flows from Section 62, RP Act 1951; Parliament sets age, residence and disqualifications.
- Constitutional in base: Article 326 mandates adult suffrage and Article 325 one general roll, so Parliament may regulate the right, not abolish it.
- Fundamental in expression: PUCL (2003, 2013) placed the voter's right to know and to choose, including NOTA, under Article 19(1)(a).
Position of the ECI while revising rolls
- ECI orders revision (Art 324; Sec 21, RP Act 1950)
- Draft roll
- Claims and objections
- ERO hearing, reasoned order
- Appeal to DM, then CEO
- Final roll
- Plenary but bounded: Article 324 vests 'superintendence, direction and control' of rolls; Mohinder Singh Gill (1978) read it as plenary yet subject to law and natural justice.
- Statutory machinery: EROs conduct summary or intensive revision under Section 21 and the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960.
- Due process floor: Lal Babu Hussein (1995) barred deletion without notice and fair inquiry; Article 325 forbids exclusion on grounds only of religion, race, caste or sex.
- Judicial check: in the Bihar SIR case (May 2026) the Supreme Court upheld intensive revision but confined the citizenship check to enrolment eligibility.
- Independence: Anoop Baranwal (2023) required a PM–Leader of Opposition–CJI committee for appointments until Parliament legislated.
Can it examine the citizenship of voters?
| Question | Answer | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Verify citizenship for enrolment? | Yes | Art 326; Sec 16, RP Act 1950 |
| Declare a person a non-citizen? | No | Citizenship Act, 1955; Foreigners Act, 1946 |
- Incidental inquiry: only citizens may be enrolled, so the ERO may seek proof and strike a name; this settles the roll, not nationality.
- Determination elsewhere: the Central Government and Foreigners Tribunals decide citizenship; an ERO's deletion binds no other authority and presumes no one foreign.
Way forward
- Inclusion by design: wide document lists, door-to-door BLO verification and camps for migrants, women and the poor.
- Transparency: ward-wise deletion lists with reasons, published before the final roll, so parties and citizens can object in time.
- Appeal and audit: time-bound appeals and CEO audits of deletions after every intensive revision.
Accuracy and inclusion are both constitutional values; the ECI's own National Voters' Day theme, 'No Voter to Be Left Behind', is the test every revision must pass.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 8 Nov 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
