India, May 28 -- The integrity of democracy depends as much on the inclusion of eligible voters as on the exclusion of those not legally entitled to vote, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday, as it underscored the constitutional importance of the right to vote while upholding the Election Commission's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

In a significant articulation on the nature of franchise in India's constitutional framework, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant noted that although the right to vote is "a valuable constitutional right" fundamental to democratic governance, it is not absolute and can be subjected to reasonable regulatory conditions aimed at preserving the purity and accuracy of electoral...