Today, On 20th April, The Supreme Court said it would seek a status report from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice on how the appellate tribunals are functioning. Noting repeated SIR applications, it remarked, “Every day you people, one after the other,”.
The Supreme Court announced that it would call for a status report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court regarding how the appellate tribunals are functioning.
These tribunals have been established to hear appeals concerning inclusions and exclusions in West Bengal’s electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of submissions made by senior advocate Devadatt Kamat, who argued that the tribunals were not operating in line with earlier directions issued by the top court.
Devadatt Kamat told the bench that the appellate tribunals were not allowing advocates to represent parties.
He further stated that the tribunals were accepting applications only through online and computer-based methods, which, he argued, effectively prevents citizens particularly those living in remote areas from getting legal representation.
Kamat submitted,
“Appellate tribunals are not functioning. Lawyers are not being allowed. They only take internet and computer-based applications. Citizens from thousands of kilometres are not allowed representation. This court’s order is not being followed,”
The CJI also expressed dissatisfaction over the repeated references raised in the case.
Last week, the Supreme Court had ordered that individuals whose appeals against deletions from electoral rolls were accepted by the appellate tribunals within two days before polling should be allowed to vote. The first phase of polling in West Bengal is scheduled for April 23, while the second phase is set for April 29.
The Chief Justice expressed displeasure over the repeated applications in the West Bengal SIR matter and remarked,
“Unfortunately, some professional strategy from this sid .Every day you people one after the other,”
The CJI said,
“We will get a report from the Chief Justice today itself,” .
The bench said in its April 13 order,
“However, it goes without saying that the mere pendency of appeals preferred by excluded persons before the appellate tribunals shall not entitle them to exercise their right to vote,”
In that order, the Supreme Court also refused to consider a plea filed by a group of 13 people, who had sought the court’s interference regarding the removal of their names from the voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal.
The top court described the petition as premature and instructed the affected individuals to approach the appellate tribunals instead.
Following this, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has constituted 19 tribunals, which are chaired by former high court chief justices and judges. These tribunals are tasked with deciding appeals related to the deletion or exclusion of names from the voters’ list.
A Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a comprehensive process by the ECI to update and clean electoral rolls. During SIR, every eligible voter’s details are verified, and duplicate, fake, or incorrect entries are removed.