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SC Allows Calcutta HC to Seek Judges from Jharkhand, Odisha for Bengal Voter Verification

The Supreme Court has permitted the Calcutta High Court to deploy additional civil judges and seek judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to address a critical shortage of manpower. This move aims to verify over 50 lakh objections in West Bengal's voter rolls under the 'Logical Discrepancy' category within a tight timeframe. The court directed that all associated expenses for these officers will be borne by the Election Commission of India. This intervention follows a recent order where the SC had already requested the Calcutta HC Chief Justice to depute district judges for the same voter verification exercise.

Key Points: SC Permits Calcutta HC to Get Judges from Other States for Voter Roll Check

  • SC permits cross-state judicial help
  • Aims to verify 50+ lakh voter objections
  • Expenses to be borne by Election Commission
  • Ensures timely process for Bengal polls
3 min read

SC allows Calcutta HC to seek additional judicial manpower from Jharkhand, Odisha for voter verification in West Bengal SIR

Supreme Court allows Calcutta HC to deploy civil judges and seek judicial officers from Jharkhand & Odisha to verify over 50 lakh voter roll objections in West Bengal.

"If the CJ of Calcutta HC is of the opinion that further human resources would be required, he is at liberty to approach the Chief Justices of Orissa and Jharkhand High Courts - Supreme Court"

New Delhi, February 24

The Supreme Court on Tuesday permitted the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to deploy additional civil judges with three years of experience and, if required, seek assistance from the Chief Justices of Jharkhand and Odisha to ensure sufficient judicial manpower for verifying objections under the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision of the voter rolls in West Bengal.

The directions were issued by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant after the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court flagged a shortage of officers to verify over 50 lakh objections under the 'Logical Discrepancy' category within the existing timeframe.

The High Court had noted that even 250 judicial officers would require approximately 80 days to complete the verification.

The Supreme Court clarified that, in addition to officers already assigned, the Calcutta High Court could deploy civil judges with three years of experience, and if further resources were required, the Chief Justice of Calcutta HC could request serving or retired judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha.

The expenses, including travel, boarding, and honorarium, would be borne by the Election Commission of India, the Supreme Court stated.

"If the CJ of Calcutta HC is of the opinion that further human resources would be required, he is at liberty to approach the Chief Justices of Orissa and Jharkhand High Courts for serving and former judicial officers from those states, who shall then could undertake the pending exercise. In that eventuality the travel, boarding, honorarium and other expenses will be borne by the ECI. The Chief Justices of Orissa and Jharkhand are requested to consider any request by the Calcutta CJ," the apex court noted.

The expansion of judicial manpower aims to ensure the timely and thorough verification of voter roll objections in West Bengal ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.

This comes days after the apex court on Friday ordered the deputation of district judges in West Bengal to resolve pending voter claims of people categorised in the Commission's "logical discrepancy" list in the SIR of electoral rolls in the state.

Invoking powers under Article 142 (special power to do complete justice) of the Constitution, the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi observed that it had no option left but to request the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to intervene on the issue by deputing district judges to resolve pending voter claims, chiefly with respect to the ones who have been included in the logical discrepancy list by the ECI.

- ANI

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Reader Comments

P
Priyanka N
This shows how critical clean voter rolls are for democracy. The 'logical discrepancy' list must be cleared without any political bias. I hope the judges from Jharkhand and Odisha can work without any local pressure. Jai Hind!
S
Sarah B
While the intent is good, I have a respectful criticism. Shouldn't the system be robust enough to not require such last-minute, large-scale interventions? This points to a deeper administrative failure in maintaining rolls in real-time. The EC needs a tech upgrade.
V
Vikram M
Good step. But will the judges from other states understand the local nuances, names, and addresses? Verification isn't just a clerical job. Hope proper briefing is given. The expense on travel and boarding is worth it for free and fair elections.
A
Aman W
Finally some action! So many fake voters get added before every election in Bengal. This verification is crucial. Kudos to the SC and CJI Surya Kant for taking this seriously. Hope this sets a precedent for other states too.
K
Kavitha C
It's heartening to see the judiciary stepping in to protect the integrity of our elections. This is a huge task, and cooperation between high courts is a great example of federal cooperation. All the best to the judges involved! 🙏

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