Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has directed the constitution of appellate tribunals, comprising former high court Chief Justices and judges, to hear appeals against exclusions from the electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in pollbound West Bengal.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justices R Mahadevan and Joymala Bagchi on March 10 clarified that decisions taken by judicial officers during the SIR process cannot be challenged before any executive or administrative authority.
Instead, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has been authorised to recommend the constitution of an appellate mechanism consisting of a former Chief Justice and two or three former or sitting High Court judges, preferably from the Calcutta High Court or neighbouring states. Once the names are recommended, the Election Commission of India (ECI) will issue a formal notification appointing them as Appellate Tribunals to hear appeals arising from the revision exercise.
The apex court further directed that the ECI will bear the entire expenditure for the functioning of the appellate body, including the honorarium payable to the former judges and judicial officers involved in the SIR exercise. “We leave it to the Chief Justice of the High Court to decide how many judges shall be there in the appellate bench,” the Bench observed.
The direction came after concerns were raised about the absence of an independent appellate mechanism for persons whose claims for inclusion in the voter list were rejected by judicial officers.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioners, submitted that nearly 4 lakh claims had been rejected out of around 10 lakh cases already decided, and cautioned that allowing all such appeals to be filed before the Calcutta High Court could overburden it.
Addressing the issue, the Bench observed that a specialised appellate forum comprising former judges could be created to provide an effective remedy without burdening the Calcutta High Court.
The apex court was informed through a communication from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice that as of March 9 evening, more than 10.16 lakh objections had already been disposed of by the deployed judicial officers. According to the communication, more than 500 judicial officers from West Bengal, along with around 200 officers requisitioned from Odisha and Jharkhand, have been deployed for the SIR exercise and are working continuously, including on weekends and holidays.
The Bench noted that repeated video conferences were being conducted with district judges to sensitise them about the importance of the revision exercise, and that leaves of several officers had been cancelled to ensure the timely completion of the process. “What more sacrifice could we expect from our officers? They are working with such dedication,” the apex court observed. It also flagged certain logistical and technical issues faced by the judicial officers, particularly relating to login credentials required to access the voter verification portal.
