SIR nothing but 'backdoor NRC'; selective disenfranchisement based on religion: Owaisi

New Delhi: AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi on Wednesday alleged in the Lok Sabha that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is nothing but "backdoor NRC" and a "malafide exercise" of power to selectively disenfranchise people on the basis of religion.

Participating in the debate on 'election reforms', Owaisi also called for building a consensus and making the right to vote a fundamental right.

"I would like to point out at the outset that SIR is violative of parliamentary legislation. It violates the rights prescribed by Parliament and it is contrary to a judgement of the Supreme Court. It is a malafide exercise of power to selectively disenfranchise on the basis of religion," Owaisi claimed.

He asserted that the Election Commission of India (ECI) cannot be "bigger" than the Supreme Court and Parliament.

"May I point out that the Representation of the People Act prescribes that inclusion in the electoral roll will be based on self-declaration of citizenship backed by one of six documents in Form 6," he said.

"This is an Act which was passed in Parliament. The Supreme Court in its Lal Babu Hussein judgement said that once a voter has been included in the electoral roll, there is a presumption that they are citizens and cannot be removed except by an inquiry into the citizenship of the individual voter and giving them the opportunity of hearing after informing them of the basis on which doubt arose concerning citizenship," Owaisi contended.

What is happening now is that the ECI is putting the burden of proof on the voter, the chief of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen said.

"It is completely in violation of the Representation of the People Act, electoral rules passed by the House and the Supreme Court judgement. The SIR has turned this on its head and put the onus on the voter," Owaisi said.

"Voters who were part of the electoral roll in 2025, instead of being given the benefit of the presumption, are required to submit documents to prove their citizenship. The 2003 electoral roll is arbitrarily fixed as the baseline on which revision is being conducted," he said.

The ECI is not a body empowered to go into the question of citizenship as the power for that lies with the Ministry of Home Affairs, Owaisi said.

"What ECI is doing is wrong. How is the ECI assuming the power given to other agencies of parliament? ...They are violating the sanctity of a law passed by this House," he alleged.

When 3.66 lakh voters were deleted through SIR, this government came with a new Immigration and Foreigners Act and it was notified, he said.

"When the Supreme Court is seized of the petition of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the government issues a foreigners' exemption order.... Why? Because they realise that in this 3.66 lakh, there can be non-Muslims also, to protect them... that is why I say this whole exercise is a backdoor NRC (National Register of Citizens)," Owaisi said.

"I oppose the SIR; this is nothing but backdoor NRC," he added.