The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the West Bengal government and the Election Commission of India to extend full logistical support to judicial officers engaged in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The court noted that judicial officers deployed in the process have already handled more than 10.16 lakh objections and claims related to potential deletions from the voter list.
A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi issued a series of directions aimed at ensuring the smooth functioning of the revision exercise. The court emphasized that adequate administrative and logistical assistance must be provided to judicial officers tasked with examining claims and objections during the SIR process.
The bench directed the Election Commission to ensure that no mandatory procedural step is introduced that could disrupt the ongoing revision unless it receives approval from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. It also instructed the poll body to address technical issues affecting its online portal and ensure that such disruptions do not recur.
To facilitate the work of judicial officers, the court said new login IDs should be created without delay so that they can carry out the revision work efficiently. It also clarified that decisions taken by these judicial officers during the SIR process cannot be subjected to appellate scrutiny by administrative officers of the Election Commission.
Instead, the Supreme Court said appeals against the decisions of judicial officers should be handled through a judicial mechanism. It suggested that the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court may constitute a bench of former Chief Justices and High Court judges to examine such appeals.
The court further directed the Election Commission to issue a notification for establishing an appellate body that will deal with challenges to the decisions taken by judicial officers in the revision exercise.
The directions were issued while the apex court was hearing a batch of petitions concerning the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
