2 months ago
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The Supreme Court connected Friday (February 27, 2026) assured that judicial officers deployed for verification of claims and objections filed by voters excluded from the electoral rotation during the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision would stay nonsubjective and judge documents of impervious of citizenship and individuality listed successful successive apical tribunal orders.
The tribunal dismissed the ruling All India Trinamool Congress government’s apprehension that the Election Commission was trying to “influence” judicial officers by giving them “training”.
In an oral mentioning made earlier a Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, elder advocator Kapil Sibal, appearing for the ruling party, said the canvass body’s grooming module whitethorn breach the orders of the Supreme Court itself. Mr. Sibal submitted that the module whitethorn adjacent see instructions not to person verification documents approved by the Supreme Court.
“We went beyond our ain imaginativeness successful this case… There has to beryllium an extremity to each this. We cognize our judicial officers. They volition not beryllium influenced by anything. A idiosyncratic argues a lawsuit earlier the judiciary, the other enactment counters the arguments, and yet we instrumentality the determination impartially,” Chief Justice Kant observed, explaining the impartiality of justness medication from the Bench.
Mr. Sibal said judicial officers cannot instrumentality instructions from the Election Commission.
“The EC cannot archer judicial officers ‘don’t instrumentality that oregon this certificate’. They are not bound by specified instructions,” the elder advocator submitted.
Justice Bagchi pointed retired that the EC was authorised to impart training. “Who other volition springiness the training? They are being trained to recognize the modalities of the EC Net and the process of verification of documents… We person made it precise wide successful our orders connected the documents which request to beryllium looked into during the verification process. Our orders are arsenic wide arsenic daylight. The EC cannot override our orders,” Justice Bagchi observed.
Mr. Sibal said the judicial officers were told not to judge domicile certificates from Sub-Division Officers. The court, however, said the documents mentioned successful its orders had to beryllium accepted.
Chief Justice Kant said verification of documents for the SIR was a “completely alien responsibility” for judicial officers. They were neither trained for it successful the judicial academy nor was it portion of their regular work. The tribunal reminded that some the EC and the State authorities were expected to supply a congenial moving ambiance for the judicial officers.
“Look astatine the grade to which we person gone successful this case... We person astir evacuated the State judiciary…” Justice Bagchi pointed out.
The tribunal further asked the EC to people and upload supplementary elector lists arsenic soon arsenic they were ready.
On February 20, the apical tribunal took an bonzer determination to deploy serving and retired judicial officers of “impeccable integrity” successful West Bengal to instrumentality implicit the quasi-judicial task of Election Registration Officers and Assistant Election Registration Officers successful the SIR process.
They were assigned to perceive lakhs of voters excluded from the West Bengal electoral rotation and who had received proceeding notices aft the EC recovered them “unmapped” oregon detected “logical discrepancies” successful their idiosyncratic details.
Subsequently, connected February 24, the apical tribunal moved rapidly to augment the ranks of judicial officers deployed to assistance successful the completion of the West Bengal SIR process, adjacent alerting neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand to spare their judges.
The apical tribunal instructed that verification of objections and claims regarding logical discrepancies oregon unmapping would beryllium based connected documents listed successful the EC’s October 27, 2025 SIR notification and the court’s consequent orders, which included Aadhaar and Madhyamik Class 10 admit paper on with walk certificate.
The tribunal besides allowed the EC to people a elector database successful West Bengal connected February 28, 2026. However, supplementary lists are to beryllium published connected a continuous ground till information for the Assembly elections.
