Supreme Court Approves Inter-State Judicial Assistance for West Bengal Voter Roll Scrutiny
In a significant move to accelerate the electoral roll revision process in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday granted permission to the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to requisition judicial officers from the neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Odisha. This decision aims to assist existing officers in West Bengal with the expedited scrutiny and determination of voter claims categorized under 'logical discrepancy' or 'unmapped' segments of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
Addressing the Backlog of Voter Verification
The order was issued by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi. This action followed a submission from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, who highlighted that despite assigning 294 serving and retired district judges and additional district judges to the SIR work, it would take at least 80 days to scrutinize the documents of 50 lakh voters in these two categories. This timeline assumes each judicial officer processes 250 cases per day.
The bench authorized the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to first draft judicial officers within West Bengal who have a minimum of three years' experience for the SIR tasks. If additional manpower is necessary to complete the verification swiftly, the Chief Justice may then requisition similarly experienced judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha.
Timeline for Voter List Publication and Document Validation
Importantly, the bench confirmed that the Election Commission (EC) will publish the final voter list on February 28, which will include the names of all verified individuals. However, given the time required to verify the documents and claims of the 50 lakh voters, the EC will issue supplementary voter lists after this date.
The Supreme Court reiterated that the 11 documents notified by the EC for SIR work, along with the Class X examination admit card and marksheet, will be considered valid for claiming inclusion in the voter list. The bench made it clear that Aadhaar will be used solely for identification purposes and not for establishing citizenship.
"There is no question of Aadhaar card being used to claim citizenship," the bench stated, adding that only cases of voters who submitted their documents by February 14 will be verified by the judicial officers for inclusion in the voter list.
Legal Framework and Financial Arrangements
Invoking its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the bench declared that the supplementary voter lists would be deemed part of the final list published on February 28. Emphasizing the importance of completing the SIR of West Bengal's voter list, the bench noted that the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice would formally request his counterparts in the Jharkhand and Odisha High Courts for additional support—specifically civil judges with three years of experience—to aid in verifying documents and claims of voters in the 'logical discrepancy' and 'unmapped' categories.
The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission to cover all expenses related to travel, lodging, and honorarium for the judicial officers coming to West Bengal from Jharkhand and Odisha.
Addressing Concerns Over Aadhaar Fraud
During the proceedings, Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay raised concerns, alleging that many illegal migrants across India possess Aadhaar cards made in West Bengal. He urged the court to issue directions to control and curb these fake Aadhaar cards.
CJI Surya Kant responded that such matters might require a deeper investigation but indicated that the current timing was not appropriate. "Let the right atmosphere be there for such an exercise," CJI Kant remarked.
Justice Bagchi suggested that the best course of action would be for Upadhyay to submit a representation to Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who could then forward it to the Union government for appropriate action, potentially leading to amendments in the Representation of the People Act.
Justice Bagchi elaborated, "If Aadhaar is procured fraudulently on an industrial scale as you are alleging, then it requires to be statutorily regulated. Because the RP Act was amended and Aadhaar was brought in as a document which will prove identity. We must acknowledge that." He further clarified, "We have already clarified that Aadhaar is for identity purposes. So, there is no question of citizenship being canvassed through Aadhaar."
