The Calcutta High Court has cancelled leave of judicial officers till March 9 to fast-track disposal of 45 lakh disputed SIR cases. A total of 173 judges will work under CCTV monitoring to meet the Election Commission’s voter list deadline.
The administration of the Calcutta High Court has cancelled the leaves of all senior district judges till March 9 to deal with nearly 45 lakh disputed SIR (Special Intensive Revision) cases linked to the electoral roll revision process in West Bengal.
The unprecedented move comes after directions from the Supreme Court of India and is aimed at ensuring speedy disposal of a massive number of pending claims before the publication of the voters’ list.
Around 23 district judges and nearly 150 senior judicial officers have been assigned to hear and decide these cases. The hearings will take place under CCTV surveillance to maintain transparency. Judges are expected to start functioning from Monday, with many of them reaching their assigned districts by Sunday.
On Saturday evening, the Registrar General of the Calcutta High Court shared an initial district-wise list of 95 judicial officers with the West Bengal government for SIR-related work. A large number of judges have been deputed to districts with high pendency, including North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas, where 13 judges each have been assigned, and Murshidabad, which has been allotted eight judges.
The cancellation of leave, except in cases of medical emergency, is considered unprecedented in recent years. The decision followed a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul in compliance with the Supreme Court’s recent directive.
The meeting was attended by senior officials including Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal, Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Director General of Police Peeyush Pandey, Kolkata Police Commissioner Supratim Sarkar, Vijay Pandey (EC’s Director General of Law), the Registrar General of the High Court, the Advocate General, and the Additional Solicitor General.
Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal explained the scale of the task ahead. He said,
“Primarily, 45 lakh disputed cases have been identified by the micro-observers. However, this figure may change as the portal for scrutiny of documents and disposal will close Saturday midnight. We will compile district and assembly constituency-wise cases and submit these to the HC before Sunday noon.”
According to Election Commission sources, a large number of cases have been flagged due to problems such as blank or unclear document uploads, missing proof of family relationships, and different dates of birth appearing across various submitted documents. These discrepancies have led to the cases being placed under special scrutiny.
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Agarwal further stated that the Commission has asked for one judicial officer per assembly constituency to ensure smooth handling of disputes. He said,
“They will start reaching the districts Sunday and are expected to begin work Monday,”
and added that the Commission will stick to its Feb 28 deadline of publishing the first voters’ list.
“All cases cleared by Feb 26 or 27 will be included in the list to be published on Feb 28. The remaining cleared cases will be included in a supplementary list,”
he said.
To support the judicial process, the Election Commission is developing a simplified digital portal exclusively for judicial officers. Individual login IDs are being created for them. Micro-observers and state government officers already deputed with the Commission will assist the judges in handling the large volume of cases. CCTV cameras will be installed both inside and outside the rooms where the judicial officers will conduct hearings and pass orders.
However, sources revealed that during the meeting chaired by the Chief Justice, there was disagreement between state officials and the Election Commission regarding the names of former chief justices or retired judges who would supervise the process.
The Commission reportedly objected to certain names suggested by the state government, pointing out that some of the retired judges had held or were currently holding posts in state panels or other government bodies after retirement.
The present action by the High Court follows an “extraordinary” order passed by the Supreme Court on Friday.
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The top court had directed that
“serving judicial officers, along with some former judicial officers of impeccable integrity in the rank of district judges/ additional district judges, can be requested to revisit and dispose of the pending claims under the category of ‘logical discrepancy/unmapped category’ in each district.”
This large-scale judicial exercise is seen as a crucial step to ensure accuracy, fairness, and transparency in the electoral roll revision process in West Bengal.
With lakhs of disputed entries under review and a strict deadline for publishing the voters’ list, the coming days are expected to witness intensive judicial work across multiple districts under close supervision and monitoring.
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