New Delhi – In an unprecedented move to break the deadlock between the Election Commission (EC) and the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the deployment of serving and retired district judges to supervise the state’s controversial voter list revision.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi expressed disappointment over the “unfortunate blame game” between the poll body and the Mamata Banerjee-led administration, which has delayed the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Judicial Intervention in Voter Cleanup
The apex court’s intervention comes after the state government allegedly failed to provide enough Grade ‘A’ officers for the revision exercise. To ensure neutrality and speed, the Court issued the following mandates:
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Judicial Adjudication: Serving and former judges will now preside over the “logical discrepancy list”—cases where voter data (such as parent-child age gaps or name mismatches) appears erroneous.
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Calcutta HC Involvement: The Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has been tasked with identifying available judicial officers and hosting a high-level stakeholder meeting by Saturday involving the Chief Secretary and DGP.
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Legal Weight: The bench clarified that any orders passed by these deputed judicial officers during the SIR process will be legally recognized as orders of the court.
Timeline and Technical Discrepancies
The Supreme Court has permitted the Election Commission to publish the draft voters’ list by February 28, with the provision to issue supplementary lists at a later date.
The core of the dispute involves “logical discrepancies” linked back to the 2002 voter database. These include:
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Parents’ names not matching progeny records.
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Biologically improbable age gaps (e.g., parents listed as being less than 15 years or more than 50 years older than the voter).
Security and Oversight
To prevent further political friction, the court directed District Collectors and Superintendents of Police (SPs) to provide full logistical support and security to the assigned judges. These judicial officers will be assisted by micro-observers and state officials to ensure the integrity of the “voter list cleaning” before the upcoming elections.
