A very important and big news is coming out related to the Election Commission of India and the administrative system of the country. The Election Commission has taken several major and positive steps to make the functioning of the judges of the SIR (Special Intensive Revision or concerned Appellate Tribunal) tribunals in West Bengal more accessible, transparent and technology-enabled. Taking seriously the objections and practical difficulties being expressed by the judges regarding the Aadhaar-authenticated e-sign process for some time, the Election Commission is now going to make a major change in the process of login and uploading of orders for the judges. Under this, by changing the requirement of e-sign for judges, the facility of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) is now being implemented, so that they can work easily without any technical hindrance. Along with this, permission has also been given to upload multiple orders (in bulk) and add other documents on the portal. Let us know in detail what kind of ease will be brought in the judicial process by these new changes of the Election Commission. Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) will remove technical hurdles, judges will get relief. According to the information received, the Election Commission is going to start a huge facility for the judges of SIR Tribunal within this week. Till now, judges had to go through the process of Aadhaar-authenticated e-sign to upload their orders on the portal, regarding which some practical objections and technical difficulties were raised from the judges in the month of September this year. Due to these objections, many important orders given by the Tribunal were not being uploaded on the online portal for more than a month. Finding a quick solution to this problem, the Election Commission has now decided to implement the system of Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) as an alternative to Aadhaar-authenticated e-sign. According to reports, the process of preparing pen-drives with digital signatures for judges is going on at a fast pace and it is expected to be completely approved by the end of this week, so that all the pending orders can be uploaded easily. Facility to save multiple orders (bulk upload) and drafts simultaneously. According to the Times of India report, the Election Commission has completely accepted two of the main demands raised by the judges of the SIR Tribunal and has also implemented them on the ground. The first major relief is that now judges will be freed from the long and tedious process of uploading orders one by one on the digital platform of the Appellate Tribunal. Now judges will be able to upload multiple orders at once (in bulk), which will lead to huge saving of both their precious time and labour. Apart from this, a provision has also been made on the ECINET portal that the judges can first save their orders in the form of 'Draft'. This will give them complete freedom to make any necessary amendments or changes in the order before issuing it finally. With these technical improvements, the administrative functioning of the Tribunal will become extremely fast and error-free. 14th category of 'Any other document' added on portal, judges get discretionary power About two weeks ago, another major technical update was made in the Appellate Tribunal portal for West Bengal to give judges more flexibility while hearing cases. Earlier, under SIR orders, there was a list of only 13 prescribed types of documents that judges could use. But now an important 14th category has been added to it, named 'Any other document'. After this new change, now the judge, based on his judicial discretion, can allow uploading of any other document which he deems fit and proper to include a person's name in the voter list or to prove his eligibility. As per the clear instructions of the Election Commission, the Voter Registration Officer (ERO) or the voter himself will now be able to upload the required documents under this new category on the portal. The Commission has also made it clear that this list of documents is only for guidance and judges can take independent decisions in the interest of justice. Work is also being done on transfer of offices and administrative reforms. Apart from these reforms being done in the digital platform and portal, the Election Commission has also directed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal to seriously consider another practical demand of the tribunal judges. The judges had requested that their present offices be shifted to a more convenient, accessible and central location so that the lawyers, petitioners and the judges themselves do not face any inconvenience in commuting. It is clear from all these rapid reforms and decisions of the Election Commission that the Commission is committed to making the justice process completely paperless, transparent and modern. The addition of modern technologies like DSC based security and bulk upload will not only speed up the execution of pending cases but will also provide timely justice and accurate updates to the common citizens and parties involved in the election process.
