The Supreme Court on Wednesday took up a batch of pleas related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, even as a Congress candidate claimed his name was missing from the voter list ahead of the hearing.
The candidate told the court that he had approached it because the appellate tribunal had not yet begun functioning. In response, the bench asked him to wait, stating that directions would be issued to operationalise the tribunal.
Court Assured of Steady Progress
During the hearing, the bench said it had received a report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, indicating that the revision process is progressing smoothly.
According to the update, around 47 lakh out of nearly 60 lakh objections have been disposed of as of March 31. The court noted that approximately 1.75 lakh to 2 lakh claims are being resolved each day.
“We are quite happy and very optimistic about the facts and figures,” the Chief Justice of India observed.
The court was also informed that all pending objections are expected to be decided by April 7.
Tribunal Set to Begin Work
The issue of appellate tribunals also came up during the proceedings. Counsel for the Election Commission told the court that training for tribunal members was underway and that their functioning could begin as early as Thursday.
However, Trinamool Congress leader Kalyan Banerjee opposed the Election Commission’s role in training tribunal members.
CJI Questions Objection to Training
Expressing displeasure over the objection, the Chief Justice said it was appropriate for the Election Commission to brief tribunal members on the nature of their work.
He noted that the tribunals would be headed by former High Court Chief Justices and questioned whether their independence could be doubted.
