SC orders judicial oversight in West Bengal’s SIR process: 'Extraordinary order due to extraordinary circumstances'

Micro-observers appointed by the Election Commission in Bengal have flagged 20 lakh names that have been uploaded on the system after SIR hearings with unlisted documents.

The Supreme Court on Friday directed that judicial officers be involved in West Bengal’s SIR process amid the ongoing standoff between the state government and the Election Commission.

"There is an unfortunate scenario of allegations and counter allegations which shows trust deficit between two constitutional functionaries... that is the state government and the Election Commission. Now, the process is stuck at the stage of claims and objections of the people who have been included in the discrepancy list," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.

The court asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to nominate serving and some former ADJ-rank judicial officers to decide objections and claims filed by citizens under the SIR exercise. Officials of the Election Commission will assist them in the process.

Earlier, the Court directed the state to make available to ECI Group B officers for SIR duties, who can replace the micro-observers deployed by the poll panel. It said it had to pass an "extraordinary order" due to "extraordinary circumstances".

The bench said the direction was issued in view of “extraordinary circumstances” in the state, noting that cases pending before the nominated officers may be listed before other benches for interim relief during this period.

It noted that an unfortunate blame game has been going on between the state government and the Election Commission over the voter roll clean-up drive.

The Court also directed the Director General of Police of the State to file a personal affidavit responding to the concerns raised by the ECI regarding failure to stop threats and violence against SIR officials.

The Trinamool had earlier complained to the Election Commission over the SIR process in West Bengal, alleging mass deletion of genuine voters, irregular verification, and instructions being issued through an unofficial WhatsApp group.

According to Bar and Bench, the Court acknowledged that this direction may impact hearing of normal court cases since judges time will be deployed for the SIR exercise.

Thus, it directed that Calcutta High Court Chief Justice along with a a committee of judges, the Registrar General, and the principal district judges may take a call to shift interim relief cases to an alternate court for a week or 10 days.

"Please cooperate with the High Court. Please create an environment for them to function. Imagine what will happen if the SIR process is not completed. Then what happens?," the court asked the state.