3 months ago
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The Supreme Court connected Tuesday (February 24, 2026) moved successful rapidly to swell the ranks of judicial officers deployed to assistance the Election Commission of India (ECI) successful the completion of the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, even alerting neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand to spare their judges.
A Special Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant convened urgently aft receiving a missive from the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court detailing the perils of the “enormous exercise”.
The Calcutta High Court Chief Justice had travel upon a whopping 50 lakh claims and objections raised by voters excluded connected grounds of logical discrepancies and mapping pending earlier the Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant Election Registration Officers (EROs/AEROs).
The missive said the 294 District and Additional District Judges selected to deal with the verification process was simply a driblet successful the ocean. Even if each 1 of them heard 250 cases a day, the full process would instrumentality 80 days to beryllium completed. Time was already stretched and deadlines for the Assembly elections were drafting close.
On February 20, the Supreme Court had taken the “extraordinary” determination to impact the judiciary successful the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls successful West Bengal.
The determination was prompted by the persistent “trust deficit” betwixt the Mamata Banerjee authorities and the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The apex tribunal had requested the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to deploy a unit of serving and retired judicial officers of “impeccable integrity” successful West Bengal to instrumentality implicit the quasi-judicial task of Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (EROs/AEROs).
They would perceive lakhs of voters who recovered themselves purged from the West Bengal draught roll, and had received proceeding notices aft the EC recovered them “unmapped” oregon detected “logical discrepancies” successful their idiosyncratic details. These discrepancies included variations successful the spelling of names, age-gaps betwixt inter-generational household members, and the fig of children.
Taking action, the Special Bench of the apical court, besides comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi, entitled the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to additionally deploy Civil Judges, some elder and inferior divisions, with acquisition of not little than 3 years, for the West Bengal SIR process.
If further quality resources was required, the apex tribunal authorised the Calcutta Chief Justice to petition his counterparts successful neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand to spare serving oregon retired judicial officers for the verification enactment successful West Bengal.
The Supreme Court asked the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Orissa High Courts to see the Calcutta Chief Justice’s request, if made, sympathetically.
The Court instructed that the verification of objections and claims regarding logical discrepancies/unmapping would beryllium based connected documents listed successful the EC’s October 27, 2025 SIR notification. The tribunal underscored that Aadhaar, Classes 10 admit paper and walk certificate would beryllium considered arsenic impervious during SIR verification.
It directed EROs and AEROs to cooperate with the judicial officers.
Most significantly, the Court allowed EC to people a elector database successful West Bengal connected February 28, 2026. However, supplementary lists would beryllium published connected a continuous ground till information for Assembly elections.
The Supreme Court invoked its plenary powers nether Article 142 of the Constitution to state that voters included successful the supplementary lists would beryllium deemed to beryllium portion of the last electoral rotation published connected February 28.
“The purity of elections has to beryllium maintained. Concerns from some sides - EC and the State authorities - person to beryllium addressed,” Justice Bagchi observed.
