Dismayed over the ongoing tussle between the West Bengal Government and the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Supreme Court on Friday issued an “extraordinary” direction to deploy serving and former district judges to assist the poll panel in the controversy-ridden special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.
Ruing the “unfortunate blame game” and the “trust deficit” between the ECI and the “democratically elected” TMC Government, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi passed a slew of fresh directions to ensure completion of the SIR process.
The bench ordered deputation of judicial officers for adjudication of claims and objections of the persons, who are put under the logical discrepancy lists and facing removal of their names from the electoral rolls. Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent’s name and the age difference between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.
The top court directed Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul to spare some judicial officers and find former judges to assist in the SIR work, as it took serious note of the State Government not sparing enough grade ‘A’0 officers for the revision exercise.
Chief Justice Paul has been asked to convene a meeting on Saturday and the same will be attended by the Chief Secretary, DGP, an official from the ECI, Advocate General of the State.
Additional Solicitor General of the Union and the Registrar General of the High Court on the issue of finalising the modalities of deputing judicial officers in the SIR process.
“In order to ensure fairness in the adjudication of the genuineness of the documents and consequential inclusion/exclusion in voters list, and as agreed to by both sides, we are left with hardly any other option but to request the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to spare serving judicial officers along with some former judicial officers in the rank of Additional District Judge and District Judges who can then be requested to revisit/ dispose of the pending claims under the category of ‘logical discrepancy’,” the bench ordered.