NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday expressed optimism over the progress of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, noting that approximately 47.4 lakh objections out of a total of 60 lakh have been disposed of as on March 31.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, took note of two communications received from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court updating the progress of the exercise.
"We are quite happy and very optimistic about the facts and figures," the CJI said, noting that nearly 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh objections are being adjudicated daily.
The court was apprised that the Election Commission has notified the constitution of 19 appellate tribunals, headed by former high court chief justices and judges, to hear appeals against inclusion or exclusion from voter lists.
These tribunals are expected to commence functioning shortly after completion of orientation for members at the Jal Shakti ministry at Kolkata for next eight weeks.
The CJI directed that the tribunals be given full access to the poll panel's records, including reasons recorded by adjudicating 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand, and emphasised that parties must be provided with such reasons.
It also said tribunals may evolve their own procedures in line with principles of natural justice, but cautioned against entertaining fresh documents without verifying their genuineness.
The court further directed the EC and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal to ensure timely payment of honorarium and other expenses to judicial officers, tribunal members and staff.
It asked the poll panel to either seek an extension for the current premises housing the tribunals or identify alternative accommodation in consultation with stakeholders.
"By now, total disposal (of claims and objections) has reached over 47 lakh and the Election Commission has notified the constitution of 19 Appellate Tribunals in the state. These are headed by former CJs/judges of HC," the bench noted in the order.
The bench said the appellate tribunals will be deciding appeals that will be filed by the persons whose names have been excluded in the voter lists and those of the authorities of the poll panel against the alleged wrongful inclusions.
"The appellate tribunals can develop their own procedure, in accordance with natural justice principles," it said.
The bench also directed the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer of the West Bengal "to release necessary payments to judicial officers and members of the tribunals or other allied staff, if any, in accordance with the recommendations."
It noted the information recorded by the chief justice of the high court that all pending objections will most probably be adjudicated by April 7 and keeping this in mind the CJI posted the pleas, including the one filed by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for further hearing on April 6.
Senior advocates appearing for petitioners, including those representing the chief minister, flagged concerns over a high exclusion rate, claiming it to be around 45 per cent, and raised issues regarding filing of fresh applications and alleged procedural irregularities.
The CJI said rival parties will claim there should be 100 percent inclusion or exclusion.
"Let us allow tribunals to function and deal with exclusions or inclusion in voters' list," he added.
The bench, however, termed some of the apprehensions as "hyper-technical" and advised parties to raise specific grievances before the appellate tribunals. "Ultimately, you are not remediless," the CJI remarked.
The top court is hearing a batch of pleas challenging the SIR process in West Bengal.
Earlier, on March 10, it had laid down a framework for adjudication of claims and objections and directed the setting up of independent appellate tribunals.
On March 24, the bench had asked litigants to approach the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court for administrative issues, noting that the SIR exercise had proceeded smoothly in most states except West Bengal.
The court had also directed the appointment of judicial officers to handle claims and objections and sought a report from the state police chief on complaints of threats to officials involved in the process.