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New Delhi: In an unprecedented decision, the Supreme Court on Friday used its “extraordinary powers” to deploy judicial officers in West Bengal to decide claims for inclusion in voter list and speed up the completion of Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. The court emphasised that CM Mamata Banerjee should be aware of the consequences if the revision exercise is not concluded. The court explained that the unprecedented judicial intervention under Article 142 of the Constitution was necessitated by the “extraordinary situation” that has arisen in Bengal due to trust deficit and non-cooperation between EC and the Bengal govt. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also, despite objections by the TMC-led govt, allowed the Election Commission (EC) to publish the revised electoral roll – 95% of the total list – on Feb 28, the deadline for publication of the final voter list, while the remaining inclusion claims are still being decided. The bench also did not agree with the contention of the state govt that electoral registration officers (EROs), and not the judicial officers, should have the final say in deciding claims of inclusion in the voter list.TMC: SC order on SIR a no-trust vote against ECTrinamool Congress on Friday described Supreme Court’s order supplanting judicial officers over EC-appointed officers to hear SIR’s logical discrepancy cases as a “no-trust vote against the EC”. In a post on X, the party said: “This constitutes a scathing indictment of a constitutional body that has failed in the faithful discharge of its duties. It is also a powerful vindication of our principled fight to safeguard the rights of the people and uphold the integrity of the democratic process.” TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: “Even the topmost court of the land appears convinced that the poll body is not neutral, nor competent, after saddling people with unjustifiable hearing notices.”
