The Supreme Court observed that the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls proceeded smoothly in all states except West Bengal, despite comparable or more complex issues elsewhere.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that except for West Bengal, in every state, the SIR happened smoothly, with issues more complicated in some states like Gujarat, where 6.8 million voters were deleted after the SIR, reducing the electorate from over 50 million to 44 million.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for West Bengal, said the Election Commission of India (ECI) had uniquely introduced the category of “logical discrepancy” in the state, placing around 13.6 million voters in a suspect list.
The court adopted a “novel method”, requesting the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to assign adjudication to judicial officers, including those from neighbouring states, ahead of polls scheduled for April 23 and 29.
The bench said it would speak to the Calcutta High Court chief justice to prioritise constituencies voting in the first phase, posting the matter for April 1.
Representing the ECI, senior advocate Dama Sesadari Naidu pointed to “practical difficulties and shortcomings” in a sealed cover submission.
The court acknowledged the “burden” on judicial officers, saying, “The bottomline of our initiative is that the fundamental right to participate in elections is protected. This burden we have passed on to the CJ of the high court.”
