Today, On 9th December, In the West Bengal SIR Row, Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy told the Supreme Court that CAA applications are facing over a year of delay, adding that an applicant’s rights must crystallise on the date of filing and should not depend on later procedural stages.
The Supreme Court heard a petition filed by Sanatani Sangsad seeking the deployment of adequate Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
The Bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, directed action after the Election Commission of India (ECI) stated that the situation would not improve unless it was allowed to take local police personnel on deputation.
During the proceedings, Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy highlighted delays under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
She submitted,
“Under the CAA, the residency requirement for eligibility has been reduced from 12 years to 5 years. However, applications that have already been filed are not being processed within any fixed timeframe. As a result, many applicants are facing over a year of additional delay.”
She further argued,
“Secondly, my rights should crystallise as on the date of my application, My Lords. That is fundamental, and I will demonstrate this by referring to the provisions of the Act itself.”
She added,
“Thirdly, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process will completely exclude me.”
Responding to her submissions, the Chief Justice remarked,
“You have not yet been granted citizenship. Every individual claim under the Act has to be verified. It must be checked whether you are from the specified countries, and the Union must have a mechanism to determine these factual aspects. You cannot put the cart before the horse.”
Justice Bagchi added,
“First, you must obtain citizenship; only thereafter does the SIR stage arise.”
The Chief Justice also noted,
“We can fix a timeframe within which your application should be decided.”
The Court recorded a procedural clarification,
“On oral mentioning, the defect in the memo is now rectified, the party is correctly shown as the ECI through its Secretary.”
It further directed,
“Issue notice to the Union of India through the Attorney General. Let the paper book in soft copy be served on the AG and the Solicitor General of India.”
Notices were also ordered for the ECI and the State of West Bengal.
Advocate Nundy responded,
“Thank you milord.”
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.
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