The Supreme Court instructed the Election Commission on Monday to finalize and publish the supplementary voters’ list by midnight, noting that the review of claims and objections from individuals whose names were removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll is nearing completion.
Chief Justice Surya Kant, leading a three-judge panel, highlighted a report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court indicating that, as of April 6 at 12:04 PM, over 59,150 out of 60,067 cases had been resolved. Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, who were also part of the bench, interpreted this as a sign that the process would conclude by the day’s end.
Senior Advocate D S Naidu, representing the Election Commission, informed the court that there are still 26,000 unresolved cases related to Phase 1 of the elections. He assured that these would be addressed within a few hours. Additionally, he mentioned that 20,000 to 25,000 cases from Phase 2 are also pending and would be completed by the end of the day.
The bench decided against setting a deadline for appellate tribunals to resolve appeals regarding the decisions made by judicial officers, emphasizing the necessity to finalize the electoral list promptly. Justice Bagchi remarked, “The tribunals will continue their hearings, and we do not wish to expedite this process unduly, but the list must be frozen at some point.”
The Supreme Court requested that the Chief Justices of High Courts assemble a team comprising three former senior judges to establish a standardized procedure that all 19 Appellate Tribunals must follow. Regarding the acceptance of documents for appeals, the court stated that such decisions would be left to the discretion of the tribunals.
In a related development, IAS officer Vibhu Goel has been appointed as the Additional Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and Nodal Officer. His role will involve facilitating communication between the Appellate Tribunal and the West Bengal CEO office. As per the Election Commission’s directives, Goel will oversee coordination with judges serving as Appellate Tribunals during the SIR process.
