The Supreme Court said issues in West Bengal’s SIR voter list revision are mostly administrative and should be handled by the Calcutta High Court. The Court will consider extending the electoral roll freeze date; next hearing on April 1.
The Supreme Court strongly criticised applications questioning the integrity of judicial officers involved in West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. CJI Surya Kant said the Court “will not tolerate” attempts to cast doubt on judicial officers handling the voter verification exercise.
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 Election Commission of India told the Supreme Court that US court judgments cannot be blindly relied upon, questioning due process in recent American actions cited by petitioners. Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi argued that India’s constitutional framework on electoral roll revision cannot be compared with US practices while defending the SIR exercise.
The Supreme Court expressed concern over the stress faced by voters during West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision and directed the Election Commission of India to publish the names of over 1.25 crore electors flagged with discrepancies, ensuring transparency, fairness, and opportunity to be heard.
