Status: Not Approved
The EC lost control over SIR in Bengal, with the Supreme Court now dictating the terms, Trinamool Congress said on Tuesday, hours after the SC verdict.
The MP also said, “They (the judicial officers) will now take over the adjudication of the 50 lakh names that remain undecided. Earlier reporting noted: Hours after the Supreme Court order was out, Bengal BJP President Samik Bhattacharya said, “Whether it takes 80 days or 180 days for the ECI, it has to ensure an error-free voter list. The Election Commission of India lost discretionary powers, lost control over the SIR process being carried out in Bengal.
Party MP Mahua Moitra said, “The Apex Court has effectively taken over the SIR process from the EC and given it to the judiciary. Ghose said, “The Supreme Court ensured that the entire SIR process was taken out of the discretion and overall supervision of the Election Commission of India . Describing the SC order as another resounding victory for “Bengal’s Maa-Mati-Manush” in the Supreme Court, the TMC said in a post on its X handle, “the EC’s arrogant stranglehold on Bengal’s SIR process has been decisively snapped. Earlier reporting noted: Kolkata: Bengal BJP on Tuesday said that the Election Commission will have to ensure an “error-free voter list” even if it takes 180 days. The party, which raised concerns over “attempts to influence judicial officers”, said that judicial officers have to be requisitioned now as the state administration became “politicised”. Bengal is the only exception where problems were created to derail the SIR process,” Bhattacharya said. “This follows serious concerns that details of attempts to influence judicial officers entered the public domain,” he wrote on his X handle. The administration was already politicised and that cannot be trusted anymore,” he said.
The Calcutta High Court is essentially monitoring the process. The disgraced and the discredited EC, which was only looking for ways to disenfranchise voters, was dealt a big blow. Party MP Sagarika Ghose also hit out against the EC on similar lines. Furthermore, the court held that documents such as Aadhaar card and school admit card, Madhyamik examination admit card, will be permitted as proof of identity. This is yet another slap in the face for the Election Commission. The Election Commission is extremely compromised. The special intensive revision was peaceful even in non-BJP states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Bhattacharya also pointed at efforts to influence judges in the district. “There are efforts to influence judges in the districts not to grant bail (to arrested BJP workers).
Earlier reporting noted: Bengal BJP minder Amit Malviya raised concerns over attempts to influence judicial officers.
These 50-60 lakh odd voters were harassed for no fault of theirs. The TMC said, “The Apex Court has authorised the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to deputise additional officers of the rank of Civil Judges with at least 3 years’ experience. Because some micro-observers—who are themselves illegal appointees—objected to their names in voter rolls, moitra said, “People who were mapped to the 2002 SIR rolls were made to stand in SIR hearing queues.
And we will ensure all genuine voters are back in the voter rolls, either in the Feb 28 list or the supplementary list. ” The TMC claimed minister Mamata Banerjee “demanded and fought tooth and nail” to safeguard people’s rights to cast vote, and “the SC has now taken the reins, stripping the ECI of its unchecked discretion. Now the SC gave them a chance. If that is still not enough, the CJ can pull serving or retired judicial officers of equivalent rank from High Courts of Jharkhand and Odisha. The ECI is so discredited, so incompetent, so distrusted that the Supreme Court is forced to import judges from other states to finish what was supposed to be their sacred constitutional job. ”