JUDGES WHO HAVE RESIGNED
Basu was one of the two judges hearing appeals by voters from Murshidabad that had over 7.4 lakh appeals pending when Election Commission submitted a report in Supreme Court in Sept. The SIR tribunals have not been examining appeals since Sept 21 as judges refused to log in to the new portal introduced by EC. The judges had earlier objected to EC’s portal restricting them to considering only 13 documents while disposing of appeals. SC had in March 2026, while ordering the formation of tribunals, noted the 13 EC-specified documents that can be considered for adjudication.
They said the new portal violated the legal mandate. It, however, clarified that the list was “indicative”, not “exhaustive”. The judges had then said they were a quasi-judicial authority under the order of Supreme Court and were “free to consider any documents which appear to be relevant and acceptable for the purpose of proper adjudication of the appeal.”
His resignation puts the fate of voters from Murshidabad, the district with the highest number of appeals, into further uncertainty. “I have resigned from my duties of SIR tribunals. Basu was appointed the chairperson of Institutional Corruption Commission set up by the BJP govt to probe corruption within institutions. Basu also heads the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, which hears complaints of excess billing and some other irregularities by private hospitals.
The resignation is for personal reasons,” Basu said on Saturday.