SC Extends Security for Bengal Judicial Officers, Directs Threat Assessment

A bench of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the concern regarding the safety of JOs deputed in SIR must reach a logical conclusion and should not remain a routine administrative task.

"We don't want to take up this matter as an administrative exercise. We want to bring it to its logical conclusion", the Court remarked.

The Court ordered that security already given to JOs must continue and should not be withdrawn without its prior permission.

The State authorities informed the Court that a detailed security plan is in place across districts, including personal security officers, workplace protection and additional CAPF deployment in sensitive areas.

The Court also said it will examine issues flagged in the NIA's interim report and noted that it wants to take the matter to its logical conclusion.

"We direct the ECI and State Government to ensure that the security already provided to judicial officers is not withdrawn. Security cover shall not be withdrawn without assessing further threat perception. Deployment of forces in terms of order passed on April 2 will consequently continue till further orders", the Court noted.

As regards the pendency of claims in the SIR, the Court relied on inputs from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and noted that deputed judicial officers had completed verification of about 60,00,000+ claims, with only 1,822 (around 0.03%) objections left pending.

The Court also noted that a system is already in place, including 19 appellate tribunals monitored by a 3-judge committee and a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) issued on April 7, 2026, followed by inspection on April 10, 2026.

It appreciated the work done by judicial officers and said it has no reason to doubt that the remaining work will be completed soon.

"We have no reason to doubt that the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court will graciously agree to set up Appellate Tribunals... and they will also be able to complete their tasks within a reasonable time."

On voter exclusion, Senior Advocate Kalyan Banerjee argued for the West Bengal government that around 34 lakh voters have been excluded and about 16 lakh appeals have been filed in the appellate tribunals. He said the issue concerns the SIR process itself and not the powers of the ECI. He argued that such a large number of appeals cannot be decided in time and that the figures shown to the Court reflect only Phase 1 of the process.

The Court responded that most of the adjudication work is complete and only about 1,800+ cases remain pending. It noted that the exercise covered 153 constituencies, with spillover in about 7-8 constituencies and assured that such cases will be addressed before the April 23 elections.

The Court said eligible voters will not be denied their right if their names are included after adjudication. The bench also raised concern that continued objections could disrupt the election process and said it will ensure appellate tribunals decide cases quickly.

"The Judicial Officers have completed the adjudication by April 9 -- even if they had exceeded by 1-2 days, I have given them the permission (to adjudicate further claims). There are 153 constituencies -- there was some spillover of 7-8 constituencies -- those names that were left out would be added to the list for the April 23 elections. Don't worry -- if their names are there, they will be voting", Justice Bagchi said.

At this stage, Senior Advocate and AITC MP Kalyan Banerjee submitted that 16 lakhs appeals have been filed (in the appellate tribunal) seeking inclusion and asked how it would be even possible to adjudicate all those claims.

The CJI responded that if that's the scenario as being submitted by the petitioners, then what should the Court do?

"Those who have been allowed, should we even stay the names included?", the CJI remarked, implying that if the petitioners keep on objecting to the SIR process, how would the elections take place.

- ANI