'Not In A Position To Conduct A Free And Fair Election'

FULL TEXT
'Not In A Position To Conduct A Free And Fair Election In The State'
Order No. 464/GJ-LA/2002 dated 16th August, 2002 of the Election Commission of India on thesubject of holding of General Elections to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly. MoreCoverage.

ORDER
Extent of Affected Areas
Status of Electoral Rolls and EPICs Electoral Rolls
Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPICs)
Law and Order
Elections to Municipalities and Taluka-Panchayats
Relief and Rehabilitation
Conclusions
Directions of the Commission

The term of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Gujarat was normally due to expire, in terms ofArticle 172(1) of the Constitution, on the 18th March, 2003. Keeping that in view, the Commission had beenplanning to hold the next general election in the State for constituting a new Legislative Assembly in theearly part of the year 2003, alongwith the general elections to the Legislative Assemblies of Himachal Pradesh,Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura whose terms are also normally due to expire in the month of March 2003.

2. The Legislative Assembly of the State of Gujarat was, however, dissolved prematurely by the Governor ofGujarat on the 19th July, 2002 in exercise of his powers under Article 174(2)(b) of the Constitution. On suchpremature dissolution of the State Legislative Assembly, a demand is being made, particularly by the BharatiyaJanata Party and a few other smaller parties and NGOs, that the general election to constitute the newLegislative Assembly be urgently held by the Commission so as to enable the new Legislative Assembly soconstituted to meet for its first session before 6th October, 2002. In support of such demand, they are citingArticle 174(1) of the Constitution which provides that ‘the Governor shall, from time to time, summon theHouse or each House of the Legislature of the State to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but sixmonths shall not intervene between its last sitting in one session and the date appointed for its firstsitting in the next session’. The last session of the dissolved

Legislative Assembly of Gujarat was prorogued on 6th April, 2002 and it is contended that the first sessionof the new Legislative Assembly should be held before 6th October, 2002 and, therefore, it is mandatory forthe Commission to hold the election well before 6th October, 2002. They also claim that the situation in theState of Gujarat is quite normal and conducive to the holding of free and fair elections, as is evident fromthe facts that the panchayat elections in large areas were successfully conducted in April 2002, that HSC, SSCexaminations were held peacefully and that various religious festivals like the Rath Yatra had passed offwithout any untoward incident.

3. On the other hand, the Commission has received a very large number of representations from politicalparties (like, the Indian National Congress, the Samajwadi Party, CPI, CPI (M), NCP, JD (S), etc.,), eminentpolitical personages, including some former Prime Ministers of India, retired Chief Justices of different HighCourts, NGOs and other social and cultural organisations, urging upon the Commission not to hold the generalelection to the Gujarat Legislative Assembly immediately but to wait for some time until the people who wereaffected by the communal riots and violence and had to leave their hearths and homes in the aftermath of theGodhra incident on 27.2.2002 return to their houses with an assuring sense of security and safety. Theseparties and representationists are of the view that there is no constitutional compulsion on the part of theElection Commission to hold the election before the 6th October 2002, as they contend that the provisions ofArticle 174 (1) of the Constitution, which have been heavily relied upon by the Bharatiya Janata Party and itsallies, apply to an existing Assembly and have no application after an Assembly has been dissolved and it isnot obligatory that the new House to be constituted after the general election meets within six months of thelast sitting of the dissolved Assembly. Their further contention is that, in any event, the Constitution hasvested the superintendence, direction and control of elections to Parliament and State legislatures in theElection Commission and it is for the Election Commission to decide as to when a general election should beheld so as to ensure a fair and free election.

4. The Commission has carefully examined the provisions of Article 174(1) of the Constitution. It has alsoconsidered other relevant provisions in the Constitution having a bearing on functioning of the LegislativeAssemblies and the conduct of elections to constitute them. The Commission has, in the past, been taking theview that the six months in Article 174(1) of the Constitution applies not only to a Legislative Assembly inexistence but also to elections to constitute the new Assembly on the dissolution of the previous Assembly andin all past cases, like the recent dissolution of the Goa Legislative Assembly on 27th February, 2002,wherever any Assembly has been dissolved prematurely by the Governor under Article 174(2)(b) of theConstitution (and where the President has not taken over the administration of the State under Article 356 ofthe Constitution on the dissolution of the Assembly), elections to constitute a new Legislative Assembly havealways been held in such time as have enabled the new Assembly to meet within the period of six months fromthe last date of the last session of the dissolved Assembly. Similar action has been taken by the Commissionwherever the House of the People has been prematurely dissolved by the President under Article 85(2)(b) of theConstitution – for example, the dissolution of the House of the People in 1999, 1998, and earlier in 1991,1979 and 1971 – so that the new House of the People could meet within the period of six months from the lastsitting of the dissolved House.

5. Thus, the Commission has all along been consistent that, normally, a Legislative Assembly should meetatleast every six months as contemplated by Article 174(1) of the Constitution, even when it has beendissolved (except where President’s Rule has been imposed in the State under Article 356 of theConstitution). The Commission sees no convincing/justifiable reason to take a different view in the presentcase. In fact, any other view on the interpretation of Article 174(1) of the Constitution might lead toextensive gaps between two Houses of a Legislative Assembly and the abuse of democracy, there being noprovision in the Constitution or in any law in force prescribing a period during which an election is to beheld to constitute a new Legislative Assembly on the dissolution of the previous House. This will be contraryto the basic scheme of the Constitution which prescribes that there shall be a State Legislative Assembly(Article 168) and the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to that Assembly [Article 164(2)]and that if a minister is not a member of the Assembly for a consecutive six months period, he shall cease tobe a minister [Article 164(4)]. A more alarming situation may arise with Parliament where Article 85 (1) ofthe Constitution makes identical provisions relating to the holding of sessions of the House of the People.Any view that the House of the People need not meet every six months and the elections be indefinitelypostponed after one House has been dissolved, would not only be destructive of the whole Parliamentary systemso assiduously built in our Constitution but also be abhorrent to every section of the Indian polity andcitizenry.

6. The Commission is also fortified in its above interpretation by the view taken by the President andParliament on the provisions of Article 174(1) whenever there was an imposition of President’s Rule in aState under Article 356 of the Constitution. Whenever the Legislative Assembly of any State has been dissolvedin the past by thePresident under Article 356 of the Constitution, the provisions of Article 174 (1) haveinvariably been expressly suspended in the Proclamation issued by the President under that Article andapproved by Parliament during the operation of that Proclamation (See, for example, the latest Proclamationdated 10th February, 1999 issued by the President dissolving the Goa Legislative Assembly and imposingPresident’s Rule in that State). If Article 174(1) has no application after an Assembly has been dissolved,as is being contended by one set of representationists, there is no question of the suspension of thatprovision after the dissolution of the Assembly by the said Proclamation.

7. Shri D.D. Basu, an eminent authority on the Constitution of India, has in his ‘Commentary on theConstitution of India (Fifth Edition)’ also observed at page 292 that ‘it might be argued that if the newAssembly has to wait for some time till the date fixed by the Governor under Art. 172 (1) comes, there may bean interregnum during which the State may not have any Assembly at all. The answer is that this is actuallyenvisaged but limited by Art. 174 (1), by providing that the Governor’s summons must be issued in such timethat more than 6 months must not elapse between the date of the last sitting of the dissolved or expiredAssembly and the date appointed for the first sitting of the newly elected Assembly.’

8. There is, to the Commission’s knowledge, no authoritative pronouncement of the Supreme Court or of anyHigh Court on this aspect of the issue. But the most plausible view that appears to the Commission is thatArticle 174(1) of the Constitution envisages that, normally, the Legislative Assembly of a State should meetevery six months even after the dissolution of one House.

9. The next question for consideration of the Commission is whether the Commission is obliged, whatever maybe the circumstances, to hold the general election within the period remaining out of the six months from thedate of the last sitting of the dissolved Assembly. The Commission does not accept this view. Article 174(1)of the Constitution cannot be read in isolation and it has to be read along with other relevant provisions ofthe Constitution, particularly Article 324 of the Constitution. Article 324, which is not subject to theprovisions of any other Article of the Constitution including Article 174(1), vests the superintendence,direction and control, inter alia , of the preparation of electoral rolls for, and conduct of, elections toParliament and State Legislatures in the Election Commission. Elections, in the context of democraticinstitutions, mean free and fair elections and not merely a ritual to be gone through periodically. In thewords of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in T.N. Seshan v Union of India and Ors [(1995) 4SCC 61]:

‘Democracy being the basic feature of our constitutional set up, there can be no two opinions that freeand fair elections to our Legislative bodies alone would guarantee the growth of a healthy democracy in thecountry. In order to ensure the purity of the election process, it was thought by our Constitution-makers thatthe responsibility to hold free and fair election in the country should be entrusted to an independent bodywhich would be insulated from political and/or executive interference.’

Again, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court observed in the famous Keshavanand Bharati v State ofKerala (AIR 1973 SC 1461) that ‘Free, fair, fearless and impartial elections are the guarantee of ademocratic polity.’ Likewise, the Supreme Court repeatedly underscored the importance of free and fairelections in the case of Mohinder Singh Gill v Chief Election Commissioner and Others (AIR 1978 SC851),Kanhiya Lal Omar v R.K. Trivedi (AIR 1986 SC 111) and a catena of other decisions. In the case ofMohinder Singh Gill (supra), the Supreme Court observed:

‘The free and fair election based on universal adult franchise is the basic … it needs little argumentto hold that the heart of the Parliamentary system is free and fair election periodically held, based on adultfranchise and that social and economic democracy may demand much more.’ Similar sentiments of the SupremeCourt laying stress on free and fair elections to the legislative bodies have found echo in every otherdecision of the Supreme Court on elections.

10. Free and fair elections are not only a commitment of the Constitution of India, but a requirement ofthe international standards laid down by the comity of nations in various fora/conventions. For example, the‘Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections’ unanimously adopted by the Inter-ParliamentaryCouncil (of which India is one of the members) at its 154th session (Paris, 26 March 1994) stated:

‘The Inter-Parliamentary Council,
Reaffirming the significance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights which establish that the authority to govern shall be based on the will of the people asexpressed in periodic and genuine elections,

Acknowledging and endorsing the fundamental principles relating to periodic free and fair elections that have beenrecognised by States in universal and regional human rights instruments, including the right to everyone totake part in the government of his or her country directly or indirectly through freely chosen representatives…

Recognising that the establishment and strengthening of democratic processes and institutions is the commonresponsibility of governments, the electorate and organised political forces, that periodic and genuineelections are a necessary and indispensable element of sustained efforts to protect the rights and interestsof the governed…

Therefore adopts the following Declaration on Free and fair Elections, and urges Governments and Parliaments throughout the world to be guided by the principles and standards set outtherein:

1. Free and Fair Elections
In any State the authority of the government can only derive from the will of the people as expressed ingenuine, free and fair elections held at regular intervals on the basis of universal, equal and secretsuffrage… ……

4. The Rights and Responsibilities of States
(1) States should take the necessary legislative steps and other measures, in accordance with theirconstitutional processes, to guarantee the rights and institutional framework for periodic and genuine, freeand fair elections, in accordance with their obligations under international law…’

Likewise, the United Nations, in its ‘1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights’, laid down in Article21 that ‘Everyone has a right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freelychosen representatives’ and ‘The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government;this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be held by universal and equalsuffrage’. Similar standards have been laid down in various other resolutions of the United Nations, likethe United Nations General Assembly Resolution No.A/RES/46/137 dated 17 December 1991, and severalinternational covenants issued by various international organisations on civil and political rights, like the1991 Commonwealth’s Harare Declaration.

11. Thus, the Constitutional mandate given to the Election Commission under Article 324 of the Constitutionis to hold free and fair elections to the legislative bodies. And, in the Commission’s considered view, if afree and fair election cannot be held to a legislative body at a given point of time because of theextraordinary circumstances then prevailing, Article 174 of the Constitution must yield to Article 324 in theinterest of genuine democracy and purity of elections. Further, in the Commission’s considered view, suchinterpretation of the provisions of Articles 174(1) and 324 would not create a situation which is notcontemplated or envisaged under the Constitution and which cannot be met thereunder. The non-observance of theprovisions of Article 174(1) in the aforesaid eventuality would mean that the Government of the State cannotbe carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution within the meaning of Article 356 (1) ofthe Constitution and the President would then step in.

12. There cannot be two opinions that under the Constitution, it is the Election Commission, and thisCommission alone, which is empowered to decide as to when an election, that is, a free and fair election, canbe held. Any doubt on this aspect will stand dispelled by the following observation of the Constitution Benchof the Supreme Court in the case of Election Commission v State of Haryana (AIR 1984 SC 1406):

‘The Government of Haryana is undoubtedly in the best position to assess the situation of law and orderin areas within its jurisdiction and under its control. But the ultimate decision as to whether it is possibleand expedient to hold the elections at any given point of time must rest with the Election Commission.

‘The fixing of the dates of polling is a matter for the informed judgment of the Election Commissionconsistent with its perception of the law and order situation and of the ensurement of the requisiteprecautionary and remedial measures.’

In the case of Election Commission of India V. Union of India and Others (Writ Petition No.606 of1993), the Supreme Court observed in its order dated 30th August, 1993:

‘…we reiterate the judicial perception as to the constitutional position and the plenitude of thepowers of the Election Commission as a high and exclusive body charged with the duty, at once sensitive anddifficult, of overseeing the free and fair elections in the country and that its perceptions of theimperatives for a free and fair elections are not to be interfered with by the courts…’

13. Even the Constitution itself expressly recognises the power of the Election Commission to decidewhether an election is possible or not at a given point of time. Under Article 356(5)(b) of the Constitution,President’s Rule in a State can be extended by Parliament, after a period of one year from the date of itsimposition, only if the Election Commission gives a certificate that the holding of a general election to itsLegislative Assembly in the State is not possible. By the very creation of the Election Commission as anindependent Constitutional authority, the founding fathers of the Constitution cast a sacred duty on theCommission to hold free and fair elections. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, chief architect of the Constitution of India,observed in the Constituent Assembly on the 15th June, 1949, while introducing draft Article 289 (which is thepresent Article 324) that:

‘The House will realise that franchise is a most fundamental thing in a democracy. No person who isentitled to be brought into the electoral rolls on the grounds which we have already mentioned in ourConstitution, namely, an adult of 21 years of age, should be excluded merely as a result of the prejudice oflocal government, or the whim of an officer. That would cut at the very root of democratic government. Inorder, therefore, to prevent injustice being done by provincial governments to people other than those whobelong to the province racially, linguistically and culturally, it is felt desirable to depart from theoriginal proposal of having a separate Election Commission for each province under the guidance of theGovernor and the local Government. Therefore, this new change has been brought about, namely, that the wholeof the election machinery should be in the hands of a Central Election Commission, which alone would beentitled to issue directives to returning officers, polling officers and others engaged in the preparation andrevision of electoral rolls so that no injustice may be done to any citizen in India, who under thisConstitution is entitled to be brought on the electoral rolls.’

14. Parliament has also expressly provided that it is the Election Commission which is to decide about thetiming of a general election in a State. Section 15 of the Representation of the People Act 1951 stipulatesthat the Governor of the State shall call upon the Assembly Constituencies in the State to elect a newAssembly on such date or dates as may be recommended by the Election Commission.

15. Guided by these considerations, the Election Commission decided to make an assessment of its own on thepossibilities of a free and fair election in the State of Gujarat in the context of the large scale movementand migration of electors due to communal riots and violence, particularly those belonging to the minoritycommunity, in the wake of the Godhra incident and the current law and order situation presently prevailing inthe State. The Commission first deputed a nine-member team of senior officers headed by two of its DeputyElection Commissioners S/Shri S. Mendiratta and A.N. Jha. The team visited, during the period from 31st July,2002 to 4th August, 2002, 12 out of 25 districts in the State of Gujarat, covering a large part of theaffected areas.

On the basis of its on-the-spot study of the ground situation, the team observed that the electoral rollsin the State, which had been revised with reference to 1st January, 2002 as the qualifying date, had becomevery defective as a large number of electors included therein had moved out of the houses wherein they wereordinarily resident during the riots and had not returned, their houses having been totallydemolished/damaged/burnt and the law and order situation having not become conducive for their return to theiroriginal places of ordinary residence. The team found that there was still a sense of insecurity pervading theminds of such displaced persons and it was evident that under such a fear psychosis, they could not beexpected to run the gauntlet and go to the polling stations to cast their vote. The team felt that anyelection on the basis of such defective electoral rolls and in a such traumatic situation would not onlydeprive the electors concerned of exercising their franchise but would also give an opportunity tounscrupulous elements to cast bogus votes in the names of those absentee voters. The team felt that first aconducive atmosphere needed to be created by taking appropriate confidence-building measures.

16. On the receipt of the report of the team, the full Commission decided to make a visit of some of theaffected areas to see the ground situation for itself and to have firsthand information about the factsreported by the team. Thereupon, the full Commission, consisting the Chief Election Commissioner and both theElection Commissioners, visited Ahmedabad and Vadodara from 9th August to 11th August, 2002. It had extensiveinteraction with the State Government machinery right from the Chief Secretary and Director General of Policeand downwards, with retired Chief Justices of different High Courts, with political parties, withorganisations manning relief camps, with inmates of the relief camps and other affected families and with NGOsand other social and cultural organisations. On such on-the-spot examination and study of the situation, thefull Commission found that the situation was indeed bad as reported by the team and that the conditions in theState were not conducive at all for holding any free and fair election for the present.

17. It is here appropriate to sum up the observations and findings of the full Commission and of its9-member team:

Extent of Affected Areas

18. After the incident at Godhra on 27th February 2002, the State of Gujarat was engulfed by communal riotsand violence which rapidly spread to many parts of the State. The State Government, in its presentation to theCommission and its team, emphasized that the riots were confined to pockets in a few districts of the State,with 13 districts remaining unaffected. But the State Government in its presentation also indicated that forrelief and rehabilitation of persons in affected areas it had introduced a scheme of distribution of freerations to BPL (below poverty line) families in areas classified as “affected areas”. The classificationof such affected areas has been made by the State Government on the following criteria:

i. Those Talukas in which day and night curfew was imposed – entire area of such affected Taluk, OR,

ii. Those Talukas in which standard 10 and 12 exams could not be conducted – entire area of such Taluk,OR,

iii. Districts in which two or more Talukas were affected as narrated upon – in such circumstances entiredistrict should be considered 'affected'.

The enquiries reveal that based on the above classification adopted by the State Government, 20 districtsout of 25 in the State are “affected areas” in which nearly 27 lakh and 12 thousand BPL families are inreceipt of free rations.

19. The two sets of information given by the State Government on the extent of affected areas are mutuallycontradictory. If only 12 districts were affected as claimed in one report on law and order presented by theState Government, it is not understood why or with what intention the scheme of distribution of free rationshas been extended to 20 districts. Out of the 20 such affected districts, the Commission’s team covered 12districts during their visit and observed that all had been substantially affected by the outbreak of communalviolence. The remaining 8 districts out of 20 could not be covered due to paucity of time, but the Commission’steam was furnished with a statement showing the names of towns, cities and villages affected by riots andthese cover even more than 20 districts. In any case, it is the Government’s own admission that 20 districtsare “affected areas” which merit relief. Whether this has been done with the intention to genuinelybenefit the affected persons who suffered on account of communal violence in all or parts of 20 out of 25districts in the State, in which case the claim of the riots being localized and confined to 12 districts isapparently incorrect, or to cover nonaffected areas is unclear. What is amply clear is that the scheme ofrelief supplies to BPL families has been extended upto October 2002 when possibly the elections were expectedto be held.

20. Significantly, Additional Director General of Police, Shri R.B. Sreekumar, stated before the Commissionthat 151 towns and 993 villages, covering 154 out of 182 Assembly Constituencies in the State, and 284 PoliceStations out of 464 Police Stations 16 were affected by the riots. This evidently falsifies the claims of theother authorities that the riots were localised only in certain pockets of the State.

Status of Electoral Rolls and EPICsElectoral Rolls

21. The electoral roll is the basic document for the conduct of any election, as it is the one on which thewhole electoral process is founded. When a constituency is called upon to elect a member to the LegislativeAssembly of a State, it means, in effect, that its electors, who have been enrolled in the electoral roll, arecalled upon to elect such a member of the Assembly. Under Article 326 of the Constitution, every Indiancitizen of the age of 18 years or above on the prescribed qualifying date is entitled to be registered as anelector in the electoral roll of the Parliamentary and Assembly constituency in which he is ordinarilyresident (unless he suffers from a prescribed disqualification).

But the right to vote in such constituency is conferred by section 62 of the Representation of the PeopleAct 1951 only on those persons whose names are entered in the electoral roll for the time being in force, inthe constituency. Therefore, the electoral roll of the constituency has to be as accurate and up-to-date as ishumanly possible for the conduct of free and fair elections. Keeping in view these constitutional andstatutory provisions, the Commission and its team inspected the electoral rolls of the districts visited bythem to examine to what extent the electoral rolls of the constituencies reflected the ground situation aswell as their fidelity vis-à-vis the electors included therein and ordinarily resident at the addressesgiven, particularly in the areas affected by riots and consequent exodus of electors from the riot-affectedareas.

The on-the-spot inspections have revealed that a substantial majority of electors who had to perforce leavetheir houses, and in many cases, flee from their villages to save themselves from the arson and carnage in thewake of the Godhra incident on 27th Feb.2002, have not yet returned to their houses or villages. In most ofthe cases, their houses stand totally demolished or burnt, and in many others, their houses have been so badlydamaged that the same have been rendered totally unfit to live in. Their return to their houses is preventedprimarily on two counts.

Firstly, slow progress of reconstruction/repair of their demolished/burnt/ damaged houses because ofinadequate/no compensation paid to them by the State Govt., and, secondly , a fear psychosis still pervadingthe minds of the displaced persons, particularly, those belonging to the minority community. Thus, theelectoral rolls as revised towards the end of the last year and in the early part of this year do not reflect,and do not show fidelity to, the actual situation obtaining on the ground. It is highly pertinent to take noteof the fact that the draft electoral rolls in the State were prepared on the basis of house-to-houseenumeration undertaken in the months of November- December, 2001 and the draft rolls so prepared werepublished on 11th Feb 2002 for inviting claims and objections up to 26th Feb 2002.

Significantly, the period for lodging claims and objections expired on 26th Feb 2002, that is to say, a dayprior to the day (27th Feb 2002) on which the holocaust descended on the State of Gujarat. The electoral rollswere thereafter finalised on the basis of claims and objections filed during the period when normalcyprevailed in the State and were finally published on 15th May 2002, without taking into account thelarge-scale movement and migration of the affected people from the riot-torn areas to safer havens. Asmentioned earlier, most of the displaced electors have not yet returned to their respective houses/villages.

 Though all but 8 relief camps, out of 121 camps said to have been set up in the State of Gujarat,have been disbanded or closed, as per the claims of the State Govt., the reality of the situation on theground, as verified by the visits of the Commission and of its team to the affected areas, is that the inmatesof these disbanded/closed camps have yet to go back to their respective houses/villages. They are stayingeither in the makeshift camps organised by some relief committees and NGOs or are staying somewhere else withtheir relatives and friends or in rented houses. It is also worthy of notice here that substantial numbers ofriot victims did not go to the officially-recognised relief camps but shifted to other safer places to takeshelter with their relatives and friends and they have not yet gone back. The State Government authoritieshave no record of such displaced families, nor any clue as to their whereabouts. Some of them are even said tohave moved out of the State of Gujarat to the neighbouring States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,etc.

The information furnished by the State Government in response to a specific query made by the team to theChief Secretary speaks for itself. The Secretary, General Administration Department, in response to the saidquery stated in his letter No. Nil dated 3rd August, 2002: -

“… neither the Revenue Department nor the Collectorate have any system to track the movement of theinmates of the camps once they have left the camps. Therefore, no figures are available to indicate how manyof those inmates who have left the camps have actually returned to their original homes and how many haveeither migrated or have sought temporary residence in the homes of their relatives. The accurate figures ofsuch migration would be available only on the basis of a detailed study. However, it would be safe to assumethat the number of persons who have migrated from Gujarat to other States will be negligible. While consultingthe collectors of the districts, collectors of Kheda, Panchmahals and Dahod reported that all the inmates ofthe camps have safely returned to their habitations. Collectors of Anand, Mehsana and Sabarkantha havereported that a small number of the inmates of the camps may still be living at locations other than theiroriginal homes or with any relatives. Collector of Ahmedabad has mentioned that the existing relief camps arelocated closer to the homes of the remaining inmates.”

22. The Commission is obviously not in a position to persuade itself to agree with the latter part of theabove statement of the State Government that the inmates of the camps have mostly returned to their houses, asit contradicts the ground situation as observed by the Commission itself while visiting some of the affectedareas.

23. Having regard to this ground situation, the electoral rolls in the State of Gujarat, particularly inthose districts which were disturbed by the riots, cannot be said to be as reasonably accurate and up-to-dateas desirable for a free and fair election, as these contain the names of a large number of electors who areeither dead or are not ordinarily resident at the address at which they have been registered in the electoralrolls; nor the names of these displaced persons included at the addresses at which they are presently residentordinarily.

It is pertinent to point out again that in terms of the State Government’s circular No.PDS/10/2002/1470/A,dated 30th April, 2002 read with GR No. RHL-232002/513/(13)/S-4 dated 6th May, 2002, 20 out of the 25districts in the State have been classified as districts disturbed/affected by riots and the State Governmentis distributing, upto October 2002, free rations to the disturbed families below the poverty line (BPL) inthose affected districts. The number of such BPL families identified by the State Govt. authorities for suchrelief in these 20 districts is as high as 27.12 lakhs.

24. Apart from these defects in the electoral rolls arising on account of the large-scale movement of theaffected families from their places of ordinary residence, the electoral rolls in the districts of Vadodara ,and maybe in some other districts as well, suffer from another defect, namely, in that these rolls do not showthe full address of electors in very large numbers. The electoral registration authorities were reportedlymaking endeavours to ascertain the full address of these electors before printing the rolls finally; but thisexercise received a serious setback and had to be aborted because of the riots and the attention of thoseauthorities being diverted to relief measures. The electoral rolls have, therefore, been published in thedistrict of Vadodara by integrating the draft rolls and the supplements, without indication of the fulladdress of a very large number of voters.

25. Complaints were also made to the Commission and its team by several political parties that they had notyet been supplied with the copies of the finally printed electoral rolls, after their final publication inMay, 2002. Enquiries made from the Collectorscum- District Election Officers revealed that in many cases theelectoral rolls were still under print after final publication and that the process got slowed down as theirenergies were diverted in relief measures.

26. In the normal course, the general election to the Legislative Assembly of Gujarat was due only in thefirst quarter of 2003, as the normal duration of the Assembly was up to and including 18th March 2003. TheCommission was contemplating, in the normal course, a summary revision of electoral rolls of all the AssemblyConstituencies in the State with reference to 1.1.2003 as the qualifying date. This summary revision wasscheduled to be taken up in the months of November, December this year and early part of January 2003.

With the premature dissolution of the State Assembly on 19th July 2002, a general election has become duebefore the normally expected period and it may not be possible to conduct the aforesaid summary revision withreference to 1.1.2003 as the qualifying date, because such revision, if undertaken, would delay the electionsconsiderably and, in that event, it may not be possible to hold the elections before the months ofFebruary-March 2003. But at the same time, the Commission is of the considered opinion that elections cannotbe held on the basis of the existing electoral rolls which are defective to a considerable extent as pointedout hereinabove.

Any election held on the basis of these defective rolls would deprive a substantially large number ofelectors who have been displaced from their places of ordinary residence. On the other hand, these electoralrolls may also give an opportunity to unscrupulous elements to resort to bogus voting in the name of electorswho are either dead or are no longer resident in the polling areas/constituencies concerned. Therefore, in theinterest of free and fair elections, which are the foundation of democratic institutions, it is imperativethat defects in the electoral rolls which have cropped up as a result of large scale exodus/migration ofelectors from the affected areas are remedied expeditiously and electoral rolls are made as accurate andup-to-date as humanly possible before the exercise of conducting elections is embarked upon.

Electors’ Photo Identity Cards (EPICs)

27. At each place visited by the Commission and its team, a common grievance was made that some of thedisplaced electors had lost, along with their other belongings, the electoral identity cards (EPICs) issued bythe Election Commission. They also stated that they were not left with any other identification documents.Before the revision of electoral rolls was undertaken in the State of Gujarat in 2001-2002, the percentage ofelectors with EPICs was around 71.37%. After the revision, such percentage was reported to have come down toabout 61%. Therefore, a special drive needs to be taken up to issue EPICs to as large a number of electors aspossible before the elections, so that 22 electors are properly identified at the time of poll and theirrights are not usurped by bogus voters impersonating them.

Law and Order

28. A conducive law and order situation is as essential for the conduct of free and fair elections as theaccurate electoral rolls. Control of crime, rioting, terrorism etc is one aspect of the law and ordersituation. The other, and equally important, aspect is the existence of a climate devoid of apprehension andfear of threat to life and property of an individual or a community in exercise of the right to free and fairfranchise.

29. The presentation before the Commission’s team highlighted that normalcy had been restored in theState and the climate was conducive for the conduct of free and fair elections. Statistics presented by theGovernment giving the comparative crime chart for June 2002 and June 2001 show a decline in the overall crimerate, but in the category of rioting there is an increase of 13.66 percent. Statistics presented also indicatethat instances of rioting are still high in the 12 affected districts visited by the team during their stay inGujarat. And to the specific queries raised by the Commission with the Chief Secretary on the number of FIRsfiled, charge-sheets filed and the progress of cases, the State Government says that out of 4208 FIRs filed ason 31 July 2002 a total of only 1360 cases have been charge-sheeted. “The other cases are either pendinginvestigation or final report has been filed details of which will be provided separately.”

30. The State Government have also provided information of the deployment of police and paramilitary forceson 12th July 2002 in Ahmedabad during Rath Yatra to support the case for normalcy prevailing in the State. Ithas been reported that 14,812 police personnel of various ranks (including 87 companies of paramilitary forcesand armed-police) were deployed during the Rath Yatra this year whereas, 18,059 personnel (including 41companies of SRP) were deployed during the Rath Yatra last year. The Government concluded that, “deploymentof forces last year which was a normal year from the law and order point of view is far higher than thedeployment this year.” Two points are to be noted in this regard. The first is that in the current year CPMFhas been extensively used unlike last year when only the State Police was deployed. The second, and moreimportant, the route of the Rath Yatra this year was only one third of its normal length of nearly 14kilometers. The claims of the State Government do not reveal the true situation on the ground where fear,anxiety and apprehension amongst the affected persons continue to exist.

31. The Commission’s team had the following observations to make regarding the overall law and ordersituation in the State: -

i. Though the situation on the surface seems to be normal with trade, business and general activitiescontinuing without any apparent hindrance, there is, however, an under current of fear and tension prevailingin the State particularly amongst the minority community. At almost all the places visited by the team peoplewere scared to return to their place of residence on account of the fear psychosis. There is still strongapprehension in their minds about their safety and security in view of the carnage on such an extensive scalespreading across both urban and rural areas of the State. In Godhra district for instance, one family wasmotivated in July, 2002 to return to their original village under police protection and they were foundmurdered on the following day (17.07.2002).

ii. Even minor incidents provoke tensions between the communities - cases in point are Kheda, Viramgam (AhmedabadDistrict), Prantij (Sabarkantha District) and Bhavnagar. In Kheda night curfew is still imposed, Viramgamwitnessed fresh communal violence as recently as 19th July, 2002, in Prantij on 28th July communal clashestook place and the district authorities in Bhavnagar reported a general climate of tension on account ofreported incidents taking place in other parts of the State such as Petlad and Viramgam. The day the teamreached Ahmedabad on 30th July evening, the western grid had failed and rumours had spread in Ahmedabad ofoutbreak of violence leading to stone pelting and skirmishes in some areas visited by the team.

iii. Everywhere there were complaints of culprits of the violence still moving around scot-free includingsome prominent political persons and those on bail. These persons threaten the displaced affected persons towithdraw cases against them, failing which they would not be allowed to return to their homes. In Dakor (KhedaDistrict), the team was told by a delegation, in the presence of senior police officers and the districtadministration authorities, that the culprits had been identified before the police but no arrests had takenplace and the main culprits continued to threaten the villagers to withdraw their FIRs. The team has citedmany other such cases from almost all the 12 districts covered by them. [In Ahmedabad, the Commission itselfobserved that a large group of Muslim families could not move to their houses because the culprits of theriots had blocked the accesses to their houses.]

iv. The progress of cases filed as indicated by the State Government does not indicate the number of peoplenamed in FIRs but not yet arrested for their crime. In fact, in several instances the prominent persons namedin the FIRs/complaints have not been booked at all.

v. There is a general lack of confidence in the State Armed Police (SRP), which is seen by many victims asabettors and perpetrators of violence that took place post-Godhra in Gujarat.

vi. The CRPF, RAF and BSF are seen to be neutral forces and everywhere there was a demand for replacing theSRP with CPMF. In places where CPMF has been replaced after the Rath Yatra of 12th July, demands were madeparticularly by persons in the affected areas to bring them back. vii. A large number of IPS officers who didcommendable work in preventing the spread of violence were soon replaced. A common complaint received was thatthese officers were punished for their impartiality.

32 Before the Commission, the Chief Secretary and Director General of Police painted a similar picture ofnormalcy in Gujarat. But the Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence), Shri R.B. Sreekumar, whoseviews were supported by the new Commissioner of Police, Ahmedabad, Shri K.R. Kaushik, stated before theCommission that an undercurrent of tension and fear was prevailing beneath the apparent normalcy in the State.He further added that there was no interaction between the two communities even though moderates were tryingtheir level best, as there were hawks in both the groups. He added that additional forces would be required toensure that there were no communal clashes. And the State Government have on the Commission’s queriessubsequently been avoiding giving a clear picture on the number and identity of persons complained against,similar details of persons included in the FIRs, similar details of persons who have been arrested, similardetails of persons named in the FIRs who have been enlarged on bail, similar details of persons enlarged onbail as against whom appeals have been filed for cancellation of their bail bonds.

33. The Commission is thus of the considered view that the law and order situation in the State is stillfar from normal. The wounds of the communal divide following the riots have not yet healed. The slow progressin relief and rehabilitation work on the one hand and non-arrest and non-punishment of the guilty on the otherhave hampered the process of normalcy returning to the State, the victims carrying the fear and anxiety ofanother backlash. Similar feelings are shared by persons from the majority community as well living inminority-dominated areas. The people have lost confidence in the local police force, the civil administrationand political executive.

Someone who met the Commission, in fact, said how could the situation mend when there was not even regretfor what had happened. In this environment, election campaigns evoking passions will threaten a violentbacklash. So confidence-building measures have to be taken up in earnestness and with urgency. Foremost amongthese would be to arrest and punish the guilty for their crimes, irrespective of their status and rank and toreinstate all officers who acted with courage to stem the riots, in their original posts. CPMF have to beinducted in large numbers for deployment in affected areas. Steps should be taken to rebuild peoples’confidence in the state police and administration. Most of all, the people of the State need the balm ofgenerous and humane governance. All these confidence building measures are essential for creating anatmosphere conducive to the holding of free and fair elections as then alone would the electors be in aposition to go to the polling stations to cast their votes without fear in their minds.

Elections to Municipalities andTaluka-Panchayats

34. The State Government have itself volunteered that elections to two District panchayats, 15 Talukapanchayats and 81 Municipalities could not be conducted for various reasons for quite sometime and they havebeen postponed till October 2002. On a specific query by the nine-member team to the Chief Secretary on thereasons for not holding the elections in time, the State Government said that elections were not held for twodistrict panchayats and 15 Taluka panchayats due in September 2000 on account of pending litigation and courtmatters. The State Government also said that the situation was reviewed in June 2002 and that it had beendecided to hold these elections after the monsoon.

35. On the issue of municipality elections, the State Government said that “notification for holdingthese municipal elections was issued on 8th February, 2002. The process was started but the elections couldnot be held because of communal riots whic h started at the end of February 2002. After a review of thesituation in June it has now been decided to hold the elections after monsoon.”

36. A perusal of the Government notifications issued on December 19, 2000 and April 26, 2001 in respect ofGandhi Nagar Taluka Panchayat shows that the grave situation arising due to acute water shortage, the fodderproblem and the difficulty of the administrative machinery to cope with the work relating to drought relief,in the event of holding the elections, were cited as the reasons for postponing the elections. The Governmentannounced on 6th February 2002 that it was satisfied that it was possible to hold elections, but the electionswere further postponed on March 13, 2002 for the district panchayats of Kheda and Banaskantha, 12 Talukapanchayats of Banaskantha district, the Kathal and Kapadvanj Talukas of Kheda district and Gandhi Nagar TalukaPanchayat of Gandhi Nagar district on account of communal violence.

37. On 12th June, 2002 the State Government have issued another notification further postponing all theabovementioned elections to the district panchayats and taluka panchayats for a further period of four months,i.e. up to 11th October, 2002 on the following grounds: -

 i. “Due to ensuing monsoon, it is likely to be difficult to hold free and fair elections of theaforesaid panchayats and casual vacancies,
ii. The farmers and workers who earned their livelihood from farming and harvesting are likely to be deprivedof their right to franchise in the aforesaid elections.”

38. The elections to 81 municipalities were postponed by an order of the Government dated 15th November2000 on account of drought and shortage of drinking water for which the administrative machinery would befully engaged. These were postponed again by the Government’s notification of 5th March 2001 on account ofthe earthquake and its resultant impact. On 5th September 2001, the Government again postponed the electionsto these 81 municipalities, and five more, whose term had expired in the interregnum, for a period of fourmonths on account of continuing drought and the impacts of earthquake and cyclone. Though the Governmentannounced the holding of these elections on 8th February, 2002 these were postponed on account of communalriots for three months by the Government’s orders of 13th March 2002. On 12th June 2002, the Government haveagain postponed these elections for four months up to 11th October, 2002 – this time citing its difficultyto hold free and fair elections during the monsoon when farmers and workers who earn their livelihood fromfarming and harvesting are likely to be deprived of their right to franchise in the aforesaid elections.

39. The Government have also admitted in its notification of March 2002 that a large number of persons hadmigrated outside the municipal areas on account of the communal riots. There are certain districts of theState, where municipal elections are due which were reportedly, not in the list of the 12 affected districtsgiven in the presentation on law and order by the State Government. There are also districts which are notincluded in the affected areas categorized for the purposes of extending the free rations scheme for the BPLfamilies such as Jamnagar, Porbandar, Amreli, Valsad, Navsari in which municipal elections could have beenheld before June but were not. The claims of the State Government about the normalcy having being restored inthe State on the ground that panchayat elections were held for 1677 panchayats in April is not borne by theevidence in respect of the postponed elections to municipalities in the State. In fact, it has beenascertained from the State Election Commissioner, Gujarat, that it was he, on account of his having notifiedthese panchayats for elections, who compelled the State Government to hold the said elections. But, obviously,the people who had been affected in the riots had moved out and did not vote in those elections. There werealso cases of uncontested elections (“Samras” panchayats) for which the State Government have a scheme ofgiving Rs. 60,000/- to the panchayat as incentive if there is no contest. And, according to the informationfurnished by the State Election Commissioner, Gujarat, there was no contest in as many as 620 panchayats outof the aforesaid 1677 panchayats. Therefore, it is difficult to understand how a co-relation can beestablished between holding of panchayat elections and restoration of normalcy.

40. If the State Government is not in a position to hold elections to local bodies such as municipalitiesand Taluka panchayats on account of monsoons, and that too in urban areas, how it can hold a general electionto the State Assembly which involves far greater mobilisation and effort throughout the State, is beyond one’scomprehension. In this context, the drought situation in the State affecting a large number of areas due tofailure of the monsoon has to be kept in mind. During the visit of the Commission and its team to differentdistricts, the people and political parties highlighted the difficulties being faced due to failure of themonsoon and shortage of drinking water in many areas. On a specific query from the team to the Chief Secretaryon the extent of drought and its likely impact on the conduct of elections, the State Government said thatthere had been a dry spell in the entire state and it was having a negative impact on the agriculture andirrigation systems in the State. It may be pointed out, however, that the State Government had, in December2000, taken a view that holding of elections in drought conditions where acute water shortage and fodderproblems exist, prevents the administrative machinery from carrying out relief work and, therefore, theelections were postponed for Gandhinagar Taluka panchayat. Now when the drought situation is widespread andthe situation is far more serious, it is difficult to understand which would be a greater priority for theState Government — holding elections in the midst of drought and thereby disrupting relief work or reliefwork.

Relief and Rehabilitation

41. The extensive and devastating impact of the riots have resulted in a large number of persons beingdisplaced from their homes both in urban and rural areas. Relief and rehabilitation measures taken up by thestate government are crucial for the victims to return to their homes and resume normal livelihood. From theCommission’s point of view, these are important in the context of having clean and accurate electoral rollsbefore any electoral event, as displaced persons, even though on the rolls, may not be able to exercise theirfranchise at their designated polling stations. Early and speedy rehabilitation also leads to restoration ofconfidence in the administration and facilitates restoration of normalcy.

42. The State Government have announced a package of measures for relief and rehabilitation of the riotvictims and affected areas. Relief, by way of free rations as per specified entitlement, is only given toinmates of the officially recognised camps when they were staying in the camps and to those persons/familieswho had returned to their homes from officially recognised camps. Although relief material by way of rationsis being distributed as per the prescribed norms, there is a wide variation in the number of inmates insideeach of the 8 camps still being run in Ahmedabad, out of 121 camps which were set up in the State earlier.

As per Government policy the number of inmates has to be verified by State Government officers on a dailybasis with the register maintained by the organisers and the entitlement is fixed on the basis of the reportof the inspecting officers. It was a common complaint that the inspecting officers visited the camps aroundmid-day when most of the bread-earners had gone out to pursue their vocations thus resulting in deflatednumbers of inmates. Usually such persons who went out returned in the evening to the safety of the camp butwere not accounted for by the inspecting officers. As a result, the rations entitlements were much less thanthe actual requirement in the camp. The organisers, who are from voluntary organisations, tried to meet theseexpenses through donations and contributions but, in view of the large amounts involved, were finding itdifficult to run the camps indefinitely.

43. In most of the camps visited, the people were scared to return to their original places of habitationdue to fear of reprisal on the one hand and absence of any reconstruction in their original places ofresidence on the other. The people of Naroda Patia, who were among the most seriously affected, are spreadover different relief camps and many of them stated that they did not intend to return to their localitiestill such time as the situation normalised and there was no fear of reprisal.

44. The scale of relief sanctioned for damage to houses varies from place to place with the maximum limitof Rs. 50,000/- for a destroyed house. Estimates are based on an assessment made by the Revenue and PWDofficials. Instances were brought to the notice of the Commission and its team where the relief sanctioned fora completely destroyed house was as little as Rs. 200. While it was not possible for the Commission and itsteam to assess the actual value of the damaged houses and co-relate to the quantum of relief sanctioned, therewas an invariable reluctance on the part of inmates of these camps to return to their original places ofhabitation on account of meagre amounts received for compensation. The amount sanctioned is just not adequateto construct a reasonable dwelling unit. Which of the two — meagre amount received or fear of reprisal —is the main cause of the reluctance to return is a subject of debate but the point to be emphasised is thegeneral apathy of the administration in handling this most sensitive issue of restoration of the places ofhabitation of the affected persons.

45. In most of the camps visited by the Commission and its team, the affected persons and camp organiserscomplained about the coercion of district authorities to prematurely close the camps even while large numbersof inmates were not in a position to return to their homes. One noticeable consequence of this has been thatthe people have set up makeshift camps under tents etc in the vicinity of the earlier camps rather than returnto their homes. These camps are being run by the same NGOs who were earlier running the officially recognizedcamps. Further, a number of people have migrated to relatives and friends in safer areas. When questioned asto the number of such migrants who had not yet returned to their original homes, the State Governmentindicated that “no figures are available to indicate how many of those inmates who have left the Camps haveactually returned to their original homes and how many have either migrated or have sought temporary residencein the homes of their relatives. The accurate figures of such migration would be available only on the basisof a detailed study.”

46. In Ahmedabad as well as in the other districts, a large number of persons has been staying outsideofficially-recognised camps, in privately run camps which were not given recognition by the state governmentas they had less than 100 persons staying there. The enquiries revealed that there were others also who werestaying with relatives and friends in different pockets within the State or even within the district itselfand were reluctant to return to their own houses. Even on those who were in camps since closed and who, theGovernment claims, have returned to their original place of residence, enquiries revealed that many had notreturned to their respective homes. They too are staying with relatives and friends in different places withinthe State. And first generation migrants from other parts of the country to Gujarat and even some secondgeneration migrants have been reported to have migrated to their States of origin.

47. It has also been observed that in a large number of districts, people who had shifted out but were notregistered in officially recognised camps did not get the relief by way of rations authorised by the StateGovernment for riot-affected victims. They were dependent mainly on relief from voluntary organisations andNGOs and the largesse of their friends and relatives. The total number of such persons is difficult to assessbut it would, on a very conservative estimate, be more than those registered in officially recognized camps.

48. The State Government scheme for distribution of free rations to BPL families in the riot-affected areasdid cover some of these cases. However, during the visits of the Commission and its team to various places, itwas brought to its notice that there was considerable confusion about categorisation of BPL families resultingin many riotaffected victims being left out of the purview of the scheme itself.

49. There appears to be a bias in the implementation of relief and rehabilitation measures which isdiscernible from the two schemes referred to hereinabove. While rations on a fixed scale to the personsstaying in officially recognized relief camps are supplied for the period they are in the camps and for twomonths after they leave, through authorized FP shops, rations for BPL families in riot-affected areas are fora period of six months from May to October 2002. The first scheme completely excludes those persons who didnot stay in officially recognized camps. The second scheme excludes families above the poverty line who losteverything in the riots. There are many such cases of persons above the poverty line who were not recipientsof free rations either because they did not stay in officially recognized camps or because they did notqualify as under BPL families. There are cases of camps being closed as early as April or May but the familiesnot returning to their original homes but staying in makeshift privately run camps. Such families, if they arenot covered under the BPL category, do not get the benefit of free rations after two months of leaving theofficial camps.

50. For those cases in the riot-affected areas where people had not moved to officially-recognized camps,the process of receiving compensation for damaged houses and destruction of property has not received thefocused attention of the Government. While the quantum of relief being distributed has left many unsatisfiedand even disgusted, the assessment itself has not been carried out in most places as the concentration of theGovernment seems to be only on those persons who migrated to officially recognised camps and not on those whochose to move to safer places with relatives and friends.

51. There were also cases of people who were staying in rented houses and whose houses were damaged anddestroyed during the riots. In such cases relief for reconstruction is only given if there is a certificatefrom the house-owner to the effect that he has no objection to the tenant claiming compensation for thedestroyed property. In various places, it was observed that people have failed to obtain the necessarycertificate, as the landlord is reluctant to give any such certificate.

52. For loans and advances to the riot victims to help them to resume their livelihood, the generalimpression has been that the DICs have been extremely tardy in processing cases. As a result, the banks arenot coming forward to give loans. Bare statistics furnished by the State Government would bear this out. Of atotal of 4204 cases recommended, there are only 1469 cases of sanction and only 627 cases of disbursement ofloan has taken place.

Conclusions

53. After a careful examination and analysis of the situation obtaining presently in the State of Gujarat,the full Commission has unanimously come to the considered view that it is presently not in a position toconduct a free and fair election in the State. The electoral rolls in the State have become substantiallydefective in view of the large-scale displacement of electors in the wake of the communal riots and violencein the months of February, March, April 2002 etc. and their failure to return to their places of ordinaryresidence where they have been registered as electors. Also, the law and order situation cannot be said tohave become normal as fear in the minds of large sections of the electorate, particularly of the minoritycommunity, is still a palpable reality and the riotvictims would be extremely wary of going to the pollingstations to cast their votes fearing risk to their life and property. Many others would obviously bephysically prevented from going to the polling stations. A situation has thus to be created which would beconducive to the holding of free, fair and peaceful polling in the State.

54. We would like to stress that we have reached the above conclusions only on the basis of the followingguiding principles: -

 (a) that every vote is a valuable vote and that every voter wanting to participate in the electionsshould be allowed to vote;

(b) that the elections are conducted in the most conducive conditions so that the “little voter”,whatever be his denomination or background, is free to vote;

(c) the election schedule should be announced without any delay at the earliest possible time afterensuring the necessary conditions for proper conduct of elections; and

(d) that all other interests have to be subservient to the democratic values.

55. We do sincerely hope that having regard to the above principles that the period between now and theannouncement of the elections will be best used to create such conditions so as to preserve the multiethnic,multireligious and multilingual nature of the polity in the larger interest of democracy and humanity and notused for promoting political acrimony.

Directions of the Commission

56. In order to make the electoral rolls as accurate and up-to-date as humanly possible, the Commissionhereby directs under Section 21 (3) of the Representation of the People Act 1950, that a ‘special revision’of electoral rolls shall be undertaken in all the 20 districts which have been identified by the StateGovernment as riot-affected areas. For this special revision, the existing electoral rolls which have beenfinally published on 15.5.2002 will be published as draft electoral rolls on 28.8.2002 (Wednesday) forinviting claims and objections.

And for the purpose of inviting claims and objections, a period of three weeks, i.e., upto 18.9.2002(Wednesday) shall be given. Simultaneously, a house-to-house survey by official enumerators shall beundertaken in all the major cities and towns of the 20 affected districts. Similar exercise of house-to- houseverification shall also be undertaken from 28.8.2002 to 18.9.2002 in all the villages of those districts whichwere affected by the riots.

The list of the cities, towns and villages in which house-to-house verification is to be taken up shall bedrawn by the Chief Electoral Officer in consultation with the District Election Officers of the concerneddistricts and other authorities considered relevant/appropriate by him and he shall complete this exercise by21.8.2002. This will give the district authorities about a week’s time for the appointment of enumeratorsand the supervisors and their training, etc.

In such house-to-house verification, the enumerators will repeat the same drill which they undertook lastyear when the house-to-house visits and verifications were carried out for the purposes of the specialrevision of intensive nature undertaken in the State with reference to 1.1.2002 as the qualifying date. Theywill go with the existing electoral rolls and use the same forms for the purposes of inclusions/deletionswhich were used for the aforesaid last verification. On the basis of this house-to-house verification, theEROs will prepare 3 lists, viz., lists of all deletions, inclusions and corrections in the existing rolls.

They will then take appropriate action to delete the names of persons who are dead or who are no longerordinarily resident in the constituencies under Rule 21 A of the Registration of Electors Rules 1960, and forthe inclusion of the names of those who have shifted to their new places of ordinary residence under Rule 21of the said Rules. They will also simultaneously dispose of the claims and objections received in prescribedForms 6, 7 and 8 in response to the draft publication of the rolls on 28.8.2002 as directed above. After theremedial action taken in terms of Rules 21 and 21 A of the Registration of Electors Rules 1960 and thedisposal of claims and objections received in Forms 6, 7 and 8, the electoral rolls will be finalised andfinal rolls shall be published on 15.10.2002 (Tuesday).

57. During the course of the house-to-house verification of electors, as directed above, it is quite likelythat such of the registered electors as have moved out the State of Gujarat may not be found anywhere in thatState. According to some rough estimates, the number of such electors who have temporarily migrated to otherStates is around 20,000. Efforts have to be made to ensure that they are not deprived of their right tofranchise for their temporary absence from the State in the wake of communal riots. Therefore, wide publicityshall have to be given to the Commission’s directions for the special revision of electoral rolls, not onlyin the State of Gujarat but also in the States of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,Bihar, etc., where these electors are stated to have migrated temporarily. Care must be taken to ensureagainst the deletion of their names merely on the ground of their temporary absence from the State of Gujaratto which they intend to return on the restoration of normalcy in the State. If any one of them responds to thepublicity given to the Commission’s direction for special revision of electoral rolls, his/her name shouldbe retained in the electoral roll, if he so requests.

58. The Commission further directs that the programme for issue of EPICs can be restarted from 1.10.2002,as by that time, the house-to-house verification of electors would be over and the electoral registrationofficers would be knowing about the names of the persons, which are not likely to be affected by the remedialaction under Rules 21 and 21 A of the 1960 Rules and the claims and objections received by them. Thisprogramme can also be started straightaway in the remaining 5 districts which are said to have not beenaffected by the riots. A target-oriented approach must be adopted to enable as large a section of people aspossible who have lost their identification papers in the riots, to acquire the cards expeditiously.

59. In the full Commission’s view, the law and order situation in the State is still far from normal. Thewounds of the communal divide following the riots have not yet healed. The slow progress in relief andrehabilitation work on the one hand and nonarrest and non-punishment of the guilty and the fear of a communalbacklash on the other have hampered the process of restoration of normalcy to the State. Similar feelings areshared by persons from the majority community living in minority-dominated areas. The people have lostconfidence in the local police, civil administration and political executive. In this environment, electioncampaigns evoking passions will only shatter the fragile peace unless adequate confidence-building measuresare taken up in earnestness and with urgency. Foremost among these would be to arrest and punish the guilty,irrespective of their status and rank, for their crimes.

Also, all physical obstructions and barriers erected to deny access of the riot-affected people to theirdestroyed homes, some of those noticed by the Commission itself, must be removed forthwith and never allowedto be re-erected in future. The CPMF have to be inducted in large numbers for deployment in affected areas andpermanent pickets need to be set up in the affected areas of the State to build confidence. The induction ofCPMF and opening of permanent pickets can be started immediately. Finally, steps should be taken to rebuildpeoples’ confidence in the State police, political leadership and civil administration, especially in thehighest echelons. Exemplary action in arresting and punishing the guilty and restoring to their originalpostings the officers who performed their duties fearlessly and forthrightly to contain the riots would go along way in restoring the confidence in the law and order apparatus of the State.

60. The above observations on the slow relief and rehabilitation efforts are being highlighted tounderscore the widespread displacement of persons in riot affected areas which has, as explained above, animmediate bearing on the fidelity of the existing electoral rolls and the continuing perception of fear andvictimisation amongst the affected persons. By removing the shortcomings in the relief and rehabilitationmeasures already undertaken and completing the restoration and rehabilitation work on warfooting in the periodwhen the exercise for revision of rolls is undertaken in the State, the administration can restore theconfidence among the affected persons, particularly the minorities, and thereby facilitate preparation ofclean and accurate electoral rolls for the forthcoming elections and create conditions conducive to holdingfree and fair elections. 

61. After completion of this exercise to correct the electoral rolls and bringingthem as up-to-date as possible and creation of conditions conducive for free and fair elections in the State,the Commission will consider framing a suitable schedule for the general election to the State Assembly inNovember-December 2002.