Former Supreme Court judge Sudhanshu Dhulia has said that determining a person’s citizenship does not fall within the responsibilities of the Election Commission of India (ECI), citing previous Supreme Court rulings on the issue.
Speaking at an Indian Express event, Justice Dhulia said that while Indian citizenship is a requirement for being registered as a voter, the Election Commission itself is not responsible for deciding whether an individual is a citizen.
“A voter has to be a citizen,” Dhulia said, while maintaining that determining citizenship is not the ECI’s role. He said the Supreme Court has addressed the question in several previous judgments.
Dhulia’s comments come amid continuing debate over the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The former judge was part of a Supreme Court vacation bench that briefly heard challenges related to the Bihar SIR process in July 2025, when the electoral-roll revision was being undertaken initially in the state.
During those proceedings, questions were raised about the Election Commission’s powers and the documentation voters could be required to provide during the revision exercise.
Dhulia retired from the Supreme Court in August 2025. His latest remarks reflect his interpretation of the legal distinction between determining eligibility for inclusion on electoral rolls and formally determining an individual’s citizenship status.
