SC steps in for Bengal voters feeling SIR 'stress and strain

The Supreme Court on Monday stepped in to alleviate the “stress and strain” faced by ordinary voters during West Bengal's special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, issuing a slew of binding directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to make the process transparent, accessible and voter-friendly, and reiterating that the core purpose of the exercise was to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded.

- Utkarsh Anand

The move, welcomed by Bengal's ruling Trinamool Congress, is likely to set a precedent for similar revision exercises that are being carried out in other states.

Across the 12 states and Union territories where the exercise is being carried out, the names of a little over 70 million people have been excised from the rolls, although an HT analysis found that most of the deletions were in regions that have seen significant additions over the past decade-and-half, suggesting that a process of de-duplication is underway. In addition, in the second phase of verification, the Election Commission is issuing notices wherever there are some discrepancies — this process is underway in West Bengal — and the Supreme Court has directed that the names of everyone being issued a notice be published.

"See the strain and stress going on for ordinary people. Over one crore (10 million) people have been issued notices...we are going to pass some orders..." "Any correction that is to be done must be done transparently by giving a fair opportunity of hearing without causing any inconvenience to those in the list," observed a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, underlining that while corrective measures in electoral rolls were permissible, they could not come at the cost of fairness, due process and voter confidence.

The bench, also comprising justices Dipankar Datta and Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR process in the pollbound state, amid a fierce political battle between the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government and the ECI.