Supreme Court News: Alleged omission of names from voter list; The Supreme Court refused to hear, a big blow to the petitioners

• Question of voting by employees on election duty
• 92% voter turnout in West Bengal hailed by Chief Justice
• Advice to appeal to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court

Supreme Court News: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to intervene in the alleged omission of the names of some persons posted on electoral duty from the electoral roll during the West Bengal Assembly elections. Refusing to hear the petitions in this regard, the court directed the petitioners to appeal to the Appellate Tribunal. Meanwhile, the Chief Justice expressed satisfaction over the 92 percent voting in the first phase of the West Bengal elections.

It was submitted on behalf of the petitioners that during the election process some officers and employees on duty could not vote. The matter was raised before a bench headed by Chief Justice Suryakant.

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Advise to approach Appellate Tribunal

On the demand of the petitioners, the Chief Justice clarified, “This issue should be raised before the Appellate Tribunal. We cannot change our orders every day.” A bench of Justice Joymala Bagchi said, “The right of the concerned persons to remain in the voter list is more important than whether they can vote this year and that will be examined by the court.”

The petitioners’ counsel argued that the EPIC (Voter Photo Identity Card) number was initially mentioned in the order issued for election duty, but it was later omitted. He said that therefore the employees on election duty could not vote and alleged that the matter was arbitrary.

DIRECTION OF PRIORITY HEARING TO APPELLATE TRIBUNAL

While giving relief in this case, the Supreme Court has allowed the citizens who were omitted from the electoral roll during the SIR process to appeal to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. Also, the Appellate Tribunal has directed that the pending appeals, especially those cases proving urgent need, should be heard on priority basis.

Why did this controversy arise?

Several petitions are pending in the Supreme Court challenging the SIR process in various states of India, as the process has led to exclusion of a large number of people from the electoral rolls. Questions are being raised from across the country.

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Special case of West Bengal

Recognizing the ‘lack of trust’ between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on February 20 delivered a landmark decision. The court transferred the responsibility of SIR in West Bengal to the judicial authorities (including district judges and retired judges) of West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand instead of the state government.

Shocking statistics

Approximately 900 judicial officers were deployed for this work. As of April 16, these officials had resolved approximately 6 million objections, resulting in the exclusion of 2.7 million people from the electoral roll.

Appeal process and current status

As directed by the Supreme Court, Appellate Tribunals were set up to hear appeals against the decisions of judicial officers. At present, approximately 19 Appellate Tribunals are functioning and hearing appeals. On April 13, as per the Supreme Court’s order, voters whose ballot papers are approved by these tribunals at least two days before the election will be able to vote in the assembly elections. According to reports, the appellate tribunals have so far given final decisions on only 136 appeals.