Today, On 9th March, The Supreme Court agreed to consider a plea challenging the deletion of electors from the electoral rolls during West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR). A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of submissions by senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy.
The Supreme Court agreed to hear a fresh petition from individuals whose names were removed from the electoral rolls by the Election Commission during West Bengal’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted senior advocate Maneka Guruswamy’s argument that the challenge concerns the deletion of erstwhile voters from the rolls.
The senior lawyer said,
“These are electors. They had voted earlier and now their documents have not been taken,”
Although the senior lawyer maintained the appeals are maintainable, Chief Justice Kant responded that,
“But in the scheme of things, we cannot sit on appeal over the decisions of the judicial officers,”
The bench agreed to hear the matter on Tuesday.
Earlier, On February 24, the court permitted the deployment of West Bengal civil judges alongside 250 district judges, and authorized the requisition of judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha, to address roughly 8 million claims and objections from those facing deletion during the SIR.
The court referenced a February 22 letter from Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul warning that even 250 district judges would require about 80 days to process claims classified under logical discrepancy and unmapped categories.
Logical discrepancies in linking progeny to the 2002 voter list include mismatches in a parent’s name or age differences between a voter and a parent of under 15 years or over 50 years.
CJI Kant observed that even if each judicial officer handled 250 claims and objections per day, the process would still take about 80 days to complete.
The deadline for the West Bengal SIR was February 28.
Earlier, On February 9, the court had warned states it would not permit obstacles to the SIR’s completion and directed the West Bengal DGP to file an affidavit responding to the Election Commission’s allegation that some of its notices were burned.
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