SC Sets Up SIR Tribunals In West Bengal

The apex court also issued a stern warning against attempts to undermine the integrity of judicial officers who are deployed to deal with claims and objections of those facing deletion from voter lists in the SIR exercise.

Dubbing such moves as an affront to the judiciary, a three-judge bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said: “How did you dare file such applications? It shows as if you don't have trust... No one should dare question the judicial officers. As Chief Justice of India, I will not tolerate this.”

The top court was irked over the submissions made in one of the fresh petitions that the judicial officers be not permitted to deal with the claims and objections of those facing deletion from voter lists.

The top court had earlier allowed deployment of district judges and civil judges of West Bengal in the ongoing SIR process. It had also asked the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to seek requisition of judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to handle 80 lakh claims and objections of those facing deletion from the electoral roll in the SIR exercise in the state.

On Tuesday, the top court perused the fresh report of the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice and passed a slew of fresh directions.

It noted that the judicial officers had dealt with 10.16 lakh objections and claims of those facing deletion from the electoral rolls by the evening of March 9.

"The ECI shall not introduce any mandatory requirement that could disrupt the process unless approved by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court… Technical issues affecting the online portal must be promptly resolved," the top court said.

It directed that new login IDs for judicial officers be created promptly to ensure smooth revision of electoral rolls. It also said that decisions of the judicial officers cannot be examined in appeals by any administrative officers of the Election Commission.

The apex court said the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court may request some former High Court Chief Justices and two or three former High Court judges, preferably from the Calcutta High Court or those of the neighbouring states, to serve on the appellate tribunals.

Once recommended, the Election Commission will have to notify them as Appellate Tribunals to hear such appeals. The number of members on each bench has been left to the discretion of the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice.

During the hearing, a few senior advocates raised two concerns — that there was absence of an appellate mechanism for individuals whose claims were rejected by the judicial officers, and the publication of supplementary lists of voters whose objections have been disposed of, particularly in light of the large number of objections reportedly exceeding 10 lakh.

As per the report of the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, 500 judicial officers from West Bengal and about 200 from Odisha and Jharkhand have been deployed for the exercise and are working round the clock. Around 700 login IDs had been created by March 8 to facilitate mobilisation and redeployment of judicial officers in sensitive districts.

However, the judicial officers were reportedly facing logistical and technical issues, which the court observed that they appeared to have arisen at the level of the EC. Senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, appearing for the poll body, assured the top court that the problems would be addressed without delay.

The top court also declined to entertain two fresh petitions filed by individuals claiming illegal exclusion from the final electoral roll.