In a significant move, the Supreme Court on Tuesday authorised the deployment of civil judges from Odisha and Jharkhand to deal with 80 lakh claims and objections in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SPIR) of electoral rolls.
The order by a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi came after the Calcutta High Court informed the apex court that the 250 district judges currently engaged in the SIR exercise would need approximately 80 days to process the claims and objections.
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, directed the Election Commission (EC) to cover the expenses for deploying judicial officers from the neighbouring states.
The Court allowed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to select officers from the ranks of civil judges (senior division) and civil judges (junior division) with a minimum of three years of experience.
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The order further stated, “If the Hon'ble Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court believes additional human resources are necessary, he may approach the Chief Justices of the High Courts of Jharkhand and Odisha to provide serving or retired judicial officers of similar rank.”
"Their travel, honorarium and other expenses shall be borne by the ECI," it added.
Additionally, the Supreme Court urged the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Odisha High Courts to consider the Calcutta High Court's request urgently and sympathetically.
The court also allowed the Election Commission to publish the final electoral roll by February 28, while stating that supplementary lists can be issued as the verification process progresses.
Earlier, on February 20, the Supreme Court had issued an "extraordinary" directive for the deployment of both serving and retired district judges to support the Election Commission in the contentious SIR exercise in West Bengal.
On Monday, the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice held an internal coordination meeting with West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Agarwal and senior administrative and police officials over the SIR work entrusted to judicial officers.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Agarwal said training of judicial officers on the SIR online portal was completed on Monday morning, and the exercise has already commenced in several places. |
