CEC Warns Against Disruptions; Mandates Hearings at Public Offices in Bengal
Nobel Laureate Economist Amartya Sen is among those persons who have been issued notice to appear personally during ongoing SIR in West Bengal.
New Delhi: In compliance with the Supreme Court’s directions, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer to display by January 24, the names of the persons, figuring under category of “Logical Discrepancies” and also under the category of “Unmapped”, at the Gram Panchayat Bhawans, public places in every Taluka, Block Offices and in the Ward Offices in the cities of the urban areas. It has directed that the persons, figuring in these two categories are permitted to submit their documents or objections through their authorized representative, who can even be a Booth Level Agent (BLA) in case they cannot come personally. However, there shall be an authority letter, by the person, in favour of such representative, whether signed or thumb-marked.
Nobel Laureate Economist Amartya Sen is among those persons who have been issued notice to appear personally during ongoing SIR in West Bengal.
ECI has directed that affected persons can submit documents/objections at the designated places.
“Further, up to ten days from displaying the names of the persons all such persons who have not yet submitted their claims, documents, or objections are allowed to do so within the extended period. All affected persons, in addition to being given an opportunity to submit documents, materials, or objections, shall also be heard by Electoral Registration Officer/Assistant Electoral Registration Officer at that same time either in person or through the authorised representative accompanying them, for the purpose of making an appropriate decision,” ECI said.
The official, who will receive the documents or accord hearing to the affected persons, shall also certify the receipt of documents and the conduct of such hearing. Authority letter, if any, and the certificate of receipt of documents and conduct of such hearings shall be uploaded by BLO in the BLO app. Madhyamik admit card (Class 10), which discloses date of birth of the candidate, may be submitted apart from Madhyamik pass certificate during the hearing.
The ECI has also directed the state administration of West Bengal to ensure strict law and order during the ongoing Special Intension Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar on Wednesday assured all citizens in West Bengal that no one will be allowed to take law in their hands and strict action will be taken in all such cases.
ECI has directed the West Bengal government that during the SIR proceedings related to collection of documents etc, hearing state government should to provide adequate manpower to the Chief Electoral Officer for deployment at Panchayat Bhawans/Block Offices and other such places of hearing to handle submission of documents/objections/hearing related to the ongoing SIR, 2026 in West Bengal.
ECI has directed each District Collector/Superintendent of Police to deploy adequate staff and forces to ensure smooth conduct of SIR proceedings in such places and there are no law and order problems at the location and that the SIR related activities proceed smoothly. “Strict action shall be taken in case of any non-compliance of the above directions or occurrence of instances of any disturbance to SIR proceedings due to omission or commission of any act by the concerned authorities,” ECI said.
