Election Commission was, is and will always be with the voters: CEC

New Delhi: As the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the validity of SIR exercise, the Election Commission reaffirmed Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar's statement that the poll panel will always be with the voters.

The EC pointed to the message by Kumar on National Voters Day this year in which he asserted that the poll authority "was, is and will always be with the voters".

In a major victory for the Election Commission, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld its power to conduct a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and said the exercise "breathes life" into the constitutional mandate for free and fair elections.

A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant held that free and fair elections do not rest merely upon the mechanics of polling and equally depend upon the integrity, accuracy and purity of the electoral roll which forms the foundation of the democratic process.

Several opposition parties had attacked the EC over the SIR exercise, accusing it of working at the behest of the BJP to snatch the voting rights of citizens who are against the ruling party.