2 months ago
1
Judicial enactment crossed West Bengal’s territory and metropolitan courts has been severely affected aft hundreds of judicial officers were deployed to process astir 50 lakh claims and objections nether the peculiar intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls up of the February 28 deadline.
Except for urgent matters and bail hearings, trials and regular proceedings — including successful peculiar courts specified arsenic those dealing with Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) cases — person besides been affected arsenic judges undertake SIR-related verification work.
Urgent matters only
Committees person been formed astatine the Calcutta High Court and territory levels to reassign urgent cases to alternate courts, but litigants and judicial officers stay uncertain astir erstwhile mean functioning volition resume. Now that it has fallen to the judiciary to analyse claims and objections, judicial officers person reached retired to administrative complexes for the verification work.
These judicial officers are provided log-in credentials to survey the claims and objects.
A District Judge asked however judges could enactment successful SIR enactment unless they are made electoral returning officers. The justice said that adjacent trials for cases nether the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act person been kept successful abeyance owed to SIR work.
Several important cases wherever the proceedings process has been oregon apt to beryllium affected see the South Calcutta Law College lawsuit (June 2025), the intersexual battle of a aesculapian pupil astatine Durgapur Medical College (October 2025) and the intersexual battle and execution of a 13-year-old astatine Rampurhat astatine Birbhum (September 2025).
Retired IAS serviceman and erstwhile Rajya Sabha MP Jawhar Sircar said that involving judicial officers successful the SIR was not a “well thought-out process”. “It is simply a knee-jerk absorption though determination is nothing mala fide about the order,” Mr. Sircar said.
The erstwhile bureaucrat who has served arsenic the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal said that nether the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the District Magistrates oregon the District Electoral Officer are the ones with whom existent authorization lies arsenic acold arsenic predetermination processes were concerned.
When administrative jobs are thrust upon judicial officers they “may beryllium retired of depth” due to the fact that judges are utilized to relation successful a peculiar format, and contented judicial and quasi judicial orders implicit pending disputes, helium said.
Mr. Sircar argued that had the judicial officers been engaged successful the process astir a period agone the solution whitethorn person worked, but present lone 2 oregon 3 days were near to conscionable the February 28 deadline.
Supplementary lists
West Bengal is witnessing an unprecedented concern wherever the last electoral rotation whitethorn beryllium released successful phases. The Supreme Court has directed the EC to people the last elector rolls successful West Bengal connected February 28. However, the supplementary lists would beryllium published connected a continuous ground till the day of information of candidates for the upcoming Assembly polls, the Supreme Court said.
On February 24, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court told the Supreme Court that 294 judicial officers of the ranks of District Judges and Additional District Judges had been deployed but specified deployment was not enough. He stated that adjacent if 1 justice dealt with 250 cases a day, the verification process of astir 50 lakh applications could resistance connected for 80 days.
The Supreme Court said that the High Court was entitled to additionally deploy civilian judges, some elder and inferior divisions, with acquisition of not little than 3 years. Accordingly, the permission of each civilian judges was cancelled arsenic per a notification of the High Court. The Supreme Court had besides suggested that the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court could petition his counterparts successful Odisha and Jharkhand to supply serving oregon retired judicial officers for the verification work.
The Supreme Court had connected February 20 highlighted a spot shortage betwixt the West Bengal authorities and the Election Commission of India and directed that judicial officials of the State would look into claims and objections arsenic portion of the SIR.
