SC asks EC to give details of pleas decided by tribunals on West Bengal SIR deletions

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to provide details of appeals decided and pending before tribunals set up to hear pleas against deletions from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a plea by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking expeditious disposal of SIR-related cases before the appellate tribunals.

"You need to give us the quantum of disposals so far because just filing an appeal is not enough. What is happening to the appeal also has to be seen," Justice Bagchi said.

The bench sought details of cases that have been decided as well as those still pending before the appellate tribunals.

The court also emphasised that its immediate concern was the functioning and disposal rate of the tribunals, rather than the question of individual deletions from the electoral rolls.

"You need to rethink the entire architecture of the appellate tribunal. There are things like online access to judges. There are a lot of futuristic things also which can be done. But the main issue is the quantum of disposals. We are not on deletion or non-deletion. We are on the quantum of disposals," Justice Bagchi told the Election Commission.

During the hearing, Chowdhury's counsel also raised the issue of people whose names were deleted during the SIR allegedly being denied benefits under the public distribution system (PDS). He argued that such benefits should not be withheld until an appeal against the deletion has been decided.

The bench, however, said the issue would have to be raised separately before the Calcutta High Court.

"If you enlarge the scope of your petition to PDS, we will not be able to entertain it. It has to go to the high court," Justice Bagchi said.

He said the alleged denial of PDS benefits on the basis of deletion from electoral rolls constituted a separate cause of action.

Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the Election Commission, requested that the plea be listed on August 25 along with similar pending matters.

"To be listed on August 25, tagged with the pending matters," the bench ordered while issuing notice to the poll panel on Chowdhury's plea.

On March 10, the Supreme Court had ordered the setting up of independent appellate tribunals headed by former high court judges to hear appeals against exclusions from West Bengal's voter lists during the SIR exercise.

It had also permitted the deployment of trial court judges from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand to deal with complaints arising from the revision.

The SIR exercise in West Bengal was conducted under the Supreme Court's supervision amid allegations of irregularities and concerns over a "trust deficit" between the then state government and the Election Commission.