The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission (EC) to provide details of the cases decided and pending before appellate tribunals dealing with appeals against the deletion of names from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana was hearing a plea filed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. He has requested for the quick disposal of SIR-related cases pending before the appellate tribunals in the state.
Justice Bagchi said that just filing an appeal was not enough and that the court needed to know how many appeals had actually been decided. The bench asked the Election Commission to submit details of the number of cases disposed of and those which are still pending.
The lawyer representing Chowdhury also raised the issue of people allegedly losing access to Public Distribution System (PDS) benefits after their names were deleted from the electoral rolls. He suggested that such benefits should not be stopped until the appeals against the deletion are decided.
However, the Supreme Court said the issue of PDS benefits was separate from the monitoring of SIR-related appeals. Justice Bagchi said the matter should be taken before the Calcutta High Court in a separate case.
The court made it clear that its main concern was the number of appeals being disposed of by the tribunals, rather than whether voters were being deleted from the electoral rolls.
The bench also suggested that the appellate tribunal system could be improved through measures such as online access for judges.
The Supreme Court has asked the Election Commission to respond to Chowdhury’s plea. The matter will be heard on August 25 along with other related cases.
On March 10, the Supreme Court had ordered the creation of independent appellate tribunals headed by former high court judges to hear appeals against voter deletions during the SIR exercise.
Trial court judges from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand were also allowed to handle SIR-related complaints.
The SIR exercise was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court amid allegations of irregularities and concerns over trust between the Election Commission and the then state government.
In conclusion, Supreme Court’s focuse on the disposal of the appeal highlights the need for a faster and more effective process for people challenging their deletion from the electoral rolls. By seeking clear details from the Election Commission on pending amd decided cases.
The court aims to ensure that genuine compliance are addressed without unnecessary delay. Meanwhile the PDS benefits will be considered separately by the Calcutta High Court.
