New Delhi: Former election commissioner Ashok Lavasa said on Thursday (September 3) that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is “legal [but] is it fair”and is an example of the “might is right” philosophy being practised by statutory bodies.“Now the institutions which have the might of law invested in them, think that whatever they do is right. You have the example of the special intensive revision, where an unfair procedure has been imposed on millions of people in the country, and you have the judiciary which has validated that,” Lavasa said, while delivering the Prof. Jagdeep Singh Chhokar Memorial Lecture, organised by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in New Delhi.“Of course, it is legal. [But] Is it fair,” he asked, adding that justice is not merely about enforcing the letter, but is also about protecting its spirit.Also read: SIR Draft Rolls Show Highest Voter Deletions in States Where Elections Were Held in Last 3 YearsFurther, the former election commissioner underlined that “it is definitely not fair”.“It is not just about enforcing the letter of the law; it is also about protecting its spirit. How do you explain the deletion of 13 crore names [from electoral rolls]?” Lavasa asked.“Are we trying to create a situation in which people are disenchanted with the process of democracy? As it is, 33% of people don’t even vote. The highest voting percentage [in a Lok Sabha election] has been 67%. Now we are creating an environment in which people find it so difficult. Much mass anxiety has been created over their constitutional right,” he said, highlighting that it was never the case in the past.As The Wire reported, draft voter lists released for the third phase of the SIR reveal that 6.15 crore names have been removed from the voter rolls across 17 states and Union Territories. While these numbers are likely to change when the final voter rolls are published ,the scale of deletions has again raised questions about the legitimacy of the electoral rolls which existed prior to the SIR exercise.Also read: Delhi SIR: Who Are the 47.56 Lakh People Knocked Out From the Draft Roll?In Maharashtra, about one-third of the total electors who voted in 2024 assembly elections have been deleted in the published list. In Karnataka, the names of about half of the electors who voted in 2023 legislative assembly polls are deleted. Telangana recorded deletions amounting to just less than one-third of those who voted in the 2023 election.In terms of highest percentage of deletion, Delhi tops the list with 32.78% deletion rate, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (29.65%), Telangana (21.69%), Maharashtra (21.14%), Karnataka(19.48%), Arunachal Pradesh (19.09%).During the lecture, Lavasa also spoke about his association with Chhokar, and their common interest Urdu poetry. Chhokar co-founded ADR in 1999 and was a renowned academic, civic activist, lawyer, engineer and conservationist. A book of his articles was released at the event which mentioned that Chhokar’s life was distinguished by his commitment to strengthen democracy and bring transparency to public life.