West Bengal SIR: SC asks state govt, Election Commission to provide logistical support to judges

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the West Bengal government and the Election Commission to provide all logistical support to judicial officers in the ongoing special intensive revision of electoral rolls in the state.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi said the judicial officers, deployed in the SIR process, so far have dealt with 10.16 lakh objections and claims of those facing deletion from the electoral rolls.

The bench asked the EC to ensure that no mandatory step is introduced which can disrupt the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process unless approved by the Calcutta High Court chief justice. It said technical disruptions in the EC's portal shall be looked into and ensured that no such disruptions take place.


The bench said new login IDs for judicial officers be created promptly to ensure smooth revision of electoral rolls. It also said that decisions of the judicial officers cannot be examined in appeals by any administrative officers of the Election Commission.

The top court bench said the chief justice of the high court can form a bench of former CJs and HC judges to deal with appeals and asked the poll panel to issue a notification for setting up an appellate body to deal with the appeals against the judicial officers' decisions in the SIR process.

The bench was hearing a batch of pleas related to the ongoing SIR exercise in the state.