The Election Commission of India has the power to issue guidelines and orders in areas left unoccupied by legislation. The instructions to provisionally register persons with doubtful citizenship status in electoral rolls and refer their cases to appropriate Tribunals were consistent with the Constitutional scheme and the provisions of the RP Act, 1950, and the RP Act, 1951. The instructions also provided for reasonable opportunity to affected persons and were not arbitrary or vitiated by malafide or partiality.

These three writ petitioners are public interest litigations raising common questions of fact and law, and were heard analogously, and are being disposed of by this common judgment.

2. The petitioner No. 1 in Civil Rule (PIL) No. 185/98 is the Secretary General of the United Minorities Front, Assam, a registered political party of the State of Assam representing the religious, linguistic and ethnic minorities in the State of Assam. The petitioner No. 2 in the said writ petition is a person whose name appears in the electoral roll of polling centre No. 89(A) of 86 Nagaon Legislative Assembly Constituency, but against her name the letter 'D' has been marked on account of which she is not in a position to cast her vote. Names of 14 other persons similarly appear in the electoral roll of polling centre No. 89(A) of 86 Nagaon Legislative Assembly Constituency, but against their names the letter 'D' has been marked, as a result of which they are not in a position to cast their vote.

3. The names of three petitioners in Civil Rule (PIL) No. 253/98 have been included in the final electoral roll published on 9.12.1997, but against their names the letter 'D' has been indicated. By a communication dated 6.1.1998 of the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Assam & Officer on Special Duty,”Election Department, the concerned authorities have been informed that as per the order of the Election Commission of India persons whose names have been provisionally entered in the electoral rolls in the State of Assam and against whose names the letter 'D' has been indicated to denote that their citizenship status as doubtful/disputed shall not be allowed to cast their votes at the ensuing general election to the House of the People and also at any election held thereafter either to the House of the People or to the Legislative Assembly of the State of Assam so long as the citizenship status of any such person is not determined in his favour by the appropriate Tribunal to whom his case has been referred.

4. The petitioner in Civil Rule (PIL) No. 254/98 is the Secretary of the Assam Pradesh Congress(I) Committee, Guwahati; and it has been stated in the writ petition that he has been instructed and authorised by the APCC(I), Guwahati, to challenge the aforesaid order of the Election Commission of India communicated by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, Assam & Officer on Special Duty, Election Department by his Memo dated 6.1.1998 to all concerned.

5. The common prayer of the petitioners in these three writ petitions is for a direction on the respondents to delete the letter 'D' marked against the names of persons who have been included in the final! electoral rolls and for directing the respondents not to interfere with the right of such persons to exercise their franchise in the election.

6. It appears that the Election Commission of India, (hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”), has issued instructions from time to time to the Chief Electoral Officer, Assam, for intensive revision of the electoral rolls in Assam with reference to 1.1.1997 as the qualifying date. These instructions of the Commission are contained in the communications dated 7.10.1996,4.2.1997 and 17.7.1997, copies of which have been annexed to the reply affidavit filed on behalf of the Commission. The instructions of the Commission which provide that the cases of persons whose citizenship is in doubt are to be referred to appropriate Tribunals for determination of their citizenship are contained in paragraph-3.8, 3.9 and 3.10 of the guidelines annexed to the communication dated 17.7.1997 of the Commission to the Chief Electoral Officer, Assam. The said paragraphs 3.8, 3.9, and 3.10 of the guidelines are quoted hereinbelow:

“3.8 The Electoral Registration Officer shall, on receipt of the verification reports from the Local Verification Officers, consider the same. Where he is satisfied, on such report and such other material/information as may be available to him