The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard a petition filed by Mamata Banerjee and other MPs of the All India Trinamool Congress challenging the SIR (Special Intensive Revision) process in West Bengal. During the hearing, the court directed the Election Commission of India to issue a notification, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, to set up an appellate tribunal. The tribunal will consist of a former Chief Justice and other judges and will hear appeals in cases where applications are rejected by judicial officers.
The Supreme Court said that if judicial officers reject any application, they must clearly state the reasons for the rejection. The expenses for running the tribunal will be borne by the Election Commission.
Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy informed the court that around 7 lakh cases have been processed so far out of a total of 63 lakh, leaving approximately 57 lakh cases still pending.
The Chief Justice noted that the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court had informed the court that around 10 lakh objections have already been disposed of. The court expressed displeasure over the filing of what it described as an advance petition, stating that it sends the wrong signal and suggests a lack of faith in the system.
The bench questioned how petitioners could challenge the functioning of judicial officers and issued a strong warning in this regard.
In response, Menaka Guruswamy said the petitioners had not intended to question judicial officers and agreed that raising such doubts would indeed be shocking. The court also said it was considering issuing a contempt notice over the application and remarked that it might have to respond in the same language as the petitioners.
Justice Surya Kant expressed concern, saying that the situation had reached a stage where the court was beginning to doubt the claims made by both sides. According to the communication received from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on March 10, more than 10 lakh objections have been resolved so far.
SC directs EC to provide support to officials
Over 500 judicial officers from West Bengal and around 200 officers from Odisha and Jharkhand have been deployed and are working day and night on the process. The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to provide full logistical support to judicial officers so they can perform their duties effectively.
The court was also informed that necessary instructions have been issued to judicial officers and their leaves have been cancelled to speed up the process. The bench remarked that the officers are already making significant sacrifices and asked what more could be expected from them.
Finally, the court directed the West Bengal government to ensure that all necessary facilities are provided to the officers. It also said that the Election Commission must not implement any rule that causes unnecessary difficulty and should create new login IDs immediately whenever judicial officers require them.
