“Don’t Doubt Judicial Officers,” SC Tells Bengal, EC Over SIR Row
Supreme Court Says Officers Will Not Be Influenced in Voter Roll Revision Process
- Bengal tells SC EC issued training module to judicial officers
- EC and state locked in row over Special Intensive Revision (SIR)
- SC says officers will act independently, orders must be followed
- 80 lakh claims, objections to be examined in voter roll clean-up
GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 27th Feb: The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the West Bengal government and the Election Commission (EC) to refrain from further friction over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, asserting that judicial officers appointed for the process would act independently.
The Mamata Banerjee-led government informed the court that the EC had issued a training module to judicial officers tasked with assisting in the voter roll verification exercise.
Appearing for the state, senior advocate Kapil Sibal alleged that the poll body had given directions to the officers on what documents should be accepted or rejected, despite the Supreme Court’s earlier order that modalities would be settled by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and a designated committee.
“Something strange has happened. Directions have been issued behind the back to judicial officers through a training module,” Sibal told the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
Responding sharply, Chief Justice Kant said the court had full faith in the judicial officers. “We know our judicial officers. They will not be influenced by anything. There has to be an end to this,” he observed.
Justice Bagchi added that it was natural for the EC to provide training and clarified that the court’s earlier directions regarding the documents to be examined were binding and could not be overridden.
Sibal further alleged that domicile certification was being excluded from SIR verification. The bench said if such documents were covered under its orders, they would be duly considered.
The court reiterated that neither the EC nor the state government could go beyond the scope of its directions.
On February 20, in what it termed an “extraordinary” order, the Supreme Court had directed the appointment of serving and retired district judges to assist the EC in handling the SIR exercise, citing an ongoing blame game between the state and the poll body.
On February 24, the court permitted the deployment of West Bengal civil judges, in addition to 250 district judges, and allowed requisitioning judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to process nearly 80 lakh claims and objections.
The matter will continue to be monitored as the large-scale voter roll revision exercise progresses in the state.
