Reasons? They were not in India around 2003.

Navdeep Singh Suri, One Of India’s Most Revered Diplomats

Ambassador Suri served as India’s ambassador to the UAE and Egypt and as High Commissioner to Australia. He spent several years abroad on official diplomatic assignments.

Despite his long and distinguished public service, Suri said he encountered difficulties during the SIR process in Punjab in establishing the documents required to support his electoral-roll entry.

"I happen to have documents other than voter ID and Aadhaar card. But can’t help asking: If I have trouble establishing my citizenship after representing India in three countries, what’s the fate of the common citizen? Ease of Living, I presume!" Suri said in a post on X.

Sharing his experience, Suri said he submitted his voter ID and Aadhaar card to the Booth Level Officer (BLO) and was initially assured that everything was in order. He later received a message saying that some details did not match the 2003 electoral roll being used for the SIR exercise in Punjab.

"Spoke with BLO, was told that I should come and collect the notice. And then come again with unspecified documents that show I am an Indian citizen. Replied that I was not in India in 2003, so they’ve asked for passport as proof," said Suri. 

Chander’s Case Similar To Suri’s

Ambassador Chander too served in several missions, including Japan, where he was posted in 2003, Belarus and Prague, besides other places.

He was told that the documents furnished by him to prove his citizenship were inadequate to register him as a voter.

The two cases have created confusion among a section of diplomats, who have been staying outside India even for official reasons.  

SIR Exercise

The SIR exercise is being undertaken because voter lists are living documents in a highly mobile country. People move for work, marry, and change addresses, acquire duplicate registrations, or turn 18 and need to be added. The job is indispensable.

The controversy, then, is not over whether rolls should be accurate. Of course they should. It is about whether speed, old-record matching, and poorly explained classifications can turn necessary verification into accidental disenfranchisement. When eminent diplomates like Suri and Chander have to prove their citizenship, the SIR’s central challenge becomes painfully clear: cleaning up a list must not mean scrubbing out the voter.