The Supreme Court has taken a big step to resolve the dispute between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list. The court on Friday said that in this extraordinary situation it is ‘almost impossible’ to decide which rank of officers should be deployed on which side.
A bench led by the Chief Justice has requested the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to appoint judicial officers of the rank of serving and retired District Judge or Additional District Judge in the state. These officers will decide the pending claims and objections related to inclusion or deletion of names in the voter list. Particular attention will be paid to those cases where there are ‘logical discrepancies’, as these are the most sensitive cases where the accuracy and fairness of the list comes into question.
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instructions given to hold a meeting
The court said that the state Chief Secretary, Director General of Police (DGP) and the State Election Commissioner should meet the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. Advocate General and Solicitor General will also be present in this meeting. The purpose of the meeting is to find a way to complete the SIR process as soon as possible, and the court wants this work to be done by February 28 (Saturday).
The list of 21st February is not final
The Supreme Court clarified that just because the draft or final list is published on February 21, it will not be considered completely final. The Election Commission may later release a supplementary list, in which changes can be made based on the decisions of the ongoing hearing. This will help in keeping the voter list correct and updated.
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This decision is important because in a politically sensitive state like West Bengal, it is very important to maintain trust in the voter list process. The Supreme Court has taken extraordinary steps to ensure fairness and transparency of elections where there is a visible lack of trust between the state government and the Election Commission.
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