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SC extends Bengal SIR deadline by one week; CJI says won't ‘create impediments’ to exercise
“We direct that one week more time shall be granted beyond Feb 14 to the ERO to complete scrutiny and take a decision,” the court said.
The Supreme Court on Monday extended the deadline for the completion of the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls in West Bengal by a week. “We direct that one week more time shall be granted beyond Feb 14 to the ERO (Electoral Registration Officer) to complete scrutiny and take a decision,” the court said in its interim order on the plea filed by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee against the SIR exercise in the state.
However, while ordering the extension, Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Surya Kant said the top court would not “create any impediments in completion of SIR”, while assuring that it would remove all hurdles during the revision of voter rolls, Bar and Bench reported.
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In the interim directions, the SC bench led by CJI Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and NV Anjaria asked the West Bengal government to ensure that the list of 8,555 Group B officers, which it handed over to the court, report to their district electoral officers by 5 pm.
This came after the Election Commission of India (ECI) had told the court that the state was not providing it with adequate manpower.
The court further ruled that the ECI must have the discretion to replace the ERO and AERO and “utilise the services of the present if found qualified.”
The SC bench said that the officials from the state government may be imparted “a brief training of a day or two so as to work as the micro observers” after the scrutiny of their biodata, according to Bar and Bench.
“The responsibility assigned to micro observers or the state govt officials shall be to only assist the EROs as the final decision will be of the ERO,” the court further stated. The apex court said that since these new set of government officials will be inducted, “the process of scrutinising documents submitted by affected persons is likely to take more time.”
