NEW DELHI, Feb 26: About 530 judicial officers have been deputed to complete the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal and about 280 have started to dispose of claims and objections, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal said on Thursday.
He said OTPs to access the database of pending SIR cases have been created for them. On Thursday, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Sujoy Paul held a meeting with the CEO and top State officials to take stock of the ongoing SIR.
On February 20, highlighting a trust deficit between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission of India, the Supreme Court had told the High Court to appoint judicial officers from the State to process SIR-related claims and objections. On February 24, the Chief Justice of the High Court informed the top court that although 294 judicial officers in the ranks of District Judges and Additional District Judges had been deployed, it was not enough.
The Supreme Court then suggested engaging judicial officers from Odisha and Jharkhand. It said the Calcutta High Court was entitled to additionally deploy civil judges, both senior and junior divisions, with experience of not less than three years. Speaking to reporters, Mr Agarwal said the Central Armed Police Forces would arrive in the State by February 28 and district officials will deploy the forces as confidence-building measures. About 480 companies of forces will be deployed in two phases in West Bengal by March 10.
Assembly elections in West Bengal are likely to be held in the next few months. Elections to the State can only be announced after the SIR is completed and the complete voter list is made public. The top court has directed the poll body to publish the voter list in West Bengal on February 28. However, the supplementary lists could be published on a continuous basis till nomination, the Supreme Court has said.
(Rohit Kumar)
Comments are closed.