Justice Bhuyan says mass voter deletions are arbitrary

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stated that any process making millions second-class citizens without voting rights is arbitrary and violates universal adult suffrage. Speaking at NALSAR in Hyderabad, he noted that mass exclusions cannot be justified and that the right to vote is a constitutional right tied to the basic structure of the Constitution. His remarks arrived amid agitations against the Chief Election Commissioner following the deletion of numerous voters through the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision.

Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan stated that procedures leading to the mass disenfranchisement of millions of citizens are intrinsically arbitrary. Speaking in Hyderabad, he remarked that such actions strike at the heart of the Constitution amid controversies involving the Election Commission of India and the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Meanwhile, the publication noted that the Supreme Court previously upheld the ECI's exercise as constitutional and legally tenable in May.

Supreme Court Justice Ujjal Bhuyan criticized the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls during an address at NALSAR University of Law, stating that any process disenfranchising millions of citizens is intrinsically arbitrary and violates the Constitution. He asserted that voters' names cannot be removed without notice and a hearing, except for deceased voters, and that no authority is above the Constitution. The revision process, initiated in Bihar in 2025, has led to millions of deletions across several states.