The Supreme Court has issued sharp comments regarding the ongoing SIR process being conducted by the Election Commission in West Bengal. (Image X @ANI)
New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued sharp comments regarding the ongoing SIR process being conducted by the Election Commission in West Bengal. The bench expressed its objection to the ongoing dispute between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission. The court also ordered the appointment of judicial officers to oversee the process. The apex court directed the Calcutta High Court to appoint judicial officers. The court stated that the ongoing dispute between the state government and the Election Commission regarding the voter list verification process is unfortunate.
Chief Justice Surya Kant said, "This is an unfortunate situation of mutual accusations. It appears there is no trust between the two constitutional bodies: the state government and the Election Commission. Currently, the process is stuck between some people's objections and others' claims that names have been wrongly removed from the voter list." This matter has been ongoing in the Supreme Court for quite some time. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself appeared as a lawyer to represent the Bengal government in this case. This was the first time in Indian politics that a sitting Chief Minister appeared in court as a lawyer and presented arguments.
The Supreme Court stated that the High Court has the authority to appoint individuals to oversee this process. District judges can also be appointed. The bench stated that unusual circumstances have arisen, necessitating such an order. The bench stated that the state's Election Commissioner, Chief Secretary, Police Chief, and other top officials could meet with the Chief Justice of the state tomorrow to determine the process for overseeing the SIR. The Supreme Court stated that it is the state government's responsibility to appoint Sub-Divisional Officers (SDOs) and Sub-Divisional Magistrates (SDMs) and to deploy Group A officers for this purpose.
"Such a situation has been created that judicial officers are forced to intervene. We want the state government to cooperate in this matter. Should the state government present its case in this manner? The facts that were supposed to be presented for the hearing on February 9th were presented on the 17th. You are saying that officials are being examined. After all, this is a process, and how much time does it take? We are disappointed to see all this," the Chief Justice said.
Expressing regret over the unfortunate exchange of accusations between the Election Commission and the Trinamool Congress-led Mamata Banerjee government, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi issued several new directives to complete the SIR process in the state. The bench ordered the deputation of judicial officers to address claims and objections from individuals included in the list with logical discrepancies.
The Supreme Court permitted the Election Commission to publish the draft list of voters in the state by February 28 and also permitted the Election Commission to issue supplementary lists later. The bench directed the state's District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police to provide assistance and security to the judicial officers deployed for the ongoing SIR exercise and clarified that orders passed by judicial officers will be treated as court orders.
It stated that judicial officers will be assisted by 'micro observers' and state government officials in the SIR process. The Supreme Court also directed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to convene a meeting by Saturday with all stakeholders, including the Chief Secretary, the Director General of Police (DGP), and an Election Commission official. Logical discrepancies regarding children from the 2002 voter list include mismatches between parents' names and the age difference between the voter and their parents being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.
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