SIR in WB should be transparent: SC to EC

 

 

OBSERVING that the Special Intensive Revision process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience, the Supreme Courtdirected the Election Commission (EC) onMonday to display thenames of those on the “logical discrepancies” list at Gram Panchayat bhavans and block offices,where documents and objections will also be submitted. Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent’s name and the agedifferencebetweena voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years. Noting that 1.25 crore voters in the State figure on the “logical discrepancies” list, a threejudge bench of Chief Justice Surya Kantand Justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi directed that the offices for submitting documents and objections be set up within the panchayat bhavans or block offices and asked the West Bengal Government toprovideadequate manpower to the election authorities.

 

The court directed that the Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal shall be obligated to ensure that there is no law-and-order problem and thatall the activitiess hall be completed smoothly. The apex court was hearing pleas alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal, including those related to the“logicaldiscrepancies”category. The bench noted that noticeshavebeenissued that are broadly classified in three categories-mapped,unmapped and logical discrepancy.

 

The topcourtadded thatunder the‘logical discrepancy’ category, mismatches in father’s name or parents’ age, and a difference in the age of the grandparents were noticed by the authorities. The apexcourt said thoselikely to be affected by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in West Bengal must be allowed to submit their documents or objections. The topcourtdirected that the office for submitting the documents andobjectionsshallbeset up within the panchayat bhavans or block offices. During the hearing, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing forsomeof thepetitioners,questioned the criteria for issuance of notices of hearings for “logical discrepancies.”

 

He said that names like “Ganguly”, “Datta”, etc.,canbespeltindifferentways, and these spelling differences are cited as reasons for notices. Theseniorlawyer saidinsome cases, notices are sent on the grounds that the age difference with the parents is less than 15 years. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the poll panel, informed thebench thatinstructions have been given to the officers not to send notices citing spelling differences. However, Dwivedi said such cases where the age difference with the parents is 15 years or less are flagged as a “logical discrepancy”. The bench then said, “Why is italogicaldiscrepancy?Howcan a 15-year agegapbetweenmother and son be a logical discrepancy?” Justice Bagchiremarked, “It is not as if we don’t have child marriages in the country.” Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee told the court that notices have been sent even to Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen and sitting MPs. 

 

 

THEElectionCommission (EC) ofIndia onMonday asserted that controversies over the summoning of celebrities and the who’s who for hearings on claims and objections on the draft voters’ list are baseless. As political controversies were sparked and questions were raised about why the grandnephew of Netaji, Chandra Kumar Bose, would be summoned for a hearing, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, clarified, citing the reason for summoning Chandra Kumar Bose. “The claimismisleading.The enumeration form clearly shows that the linkage column is left blank. He has, therefore, been called for a hearing like all the other similarly placed electors as per the notification of EC,” the clarification statement read. 

 

 

NETAJI Subhas Chandra Bose’s grandnephew Chandra Kumar Bose,who appeared forWestBengalSIRhearings, saidonMonday that the ongoing electoralrollrevision exercise was “important” but “not being conducted properly”. Bose, who had contested the 2016 Assembly elections and the 2019 Lok Sabha polls on BJP tickets, called the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral roll “sheer harassment” and claimed that it lacks clarity