SC orders judicial officers to join SIR duty in Bengal in rare move

The Supreme Court of India has taken an extraordinary step of involving judicial officers in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal. The court said the decision was necessary to ensure fairness and transparency in the process.

The apex court directed the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to appoint serving and retired judges, mainly of district judge rank, to handle claims and objections related to the voter lists. These judicial officers will be involved in during the revision work.

This step was taken because there was a serious dispute and lack of trust between the West Bengal government and the Election Commission of India. The court noted that both sides were blaming each other, which had slowed down the revision process.

The judges will check documents submitted by voters and decide whether their names should be added to or removed from the electoral rolls. The court also ordered district officials and police to provide support and security to the judicial officers during the work.

The Supreme Court said it used its extraordinary powers because the situation was unusual and there was no other option left to complete the voter list revision smoothly.