The Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, starting in Bihar, required a fresh door-to-door enumeration with specified documents for continued or new registration. Petitioners argued this functioned as a citizenship-verification exercise rather than routine roll-updating, burdening the poor, migrants and women lacking particular documents. The Supreme Court examined the SIR's legality and manner, reaffirming the distinction between citizenship as a legal status and enrolment on the electoral roll, while prescribing procedural safeguards.
Citizenship (Part II, Articles 5–11) is a status regulated only through defined constitutional/statutory process, chiefly Parliament under Article 11. Voting rests on Part XV: Article 326 (adult suffrage), Article 325 (no exclusion on religion, race, caste, sex), and Article 324 (EC's power over roll preparation, not unconstrained, subject to Article 14 reasonableness and Article 21 fair procedure before deletion). Article 329 restricts judicial interference in electoral roll matters except via election petitions post-poll, framing the delicate limits of the Court's supervisory role here.
Remember: citizenship and voter registration are distinct constitutional tracks; default position favours inclusion; EC's Article 324 power is subject to Articles 14, 21, 325, 326; and Article 329 constrains pre-election judicial intervention.