SC tightens oversight on West Bengal SIR
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday ordered the setting up of independent appellate tribunals, headed by former High Court judges, to hear appeals against exclusions from voter lists during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
The court also warned against attempts to undermine the integrity of judicial officers deployed to deal with claims and objections in the SIR process. Describing such moves as an affront to the judiciary, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India, Justice Surya Kant said, “How did you dare file such applications? It shows as if you don’t have trust… No one should dare question the judicial officers. As Chief Justice of India, I will not tolerate this.” The bench, also comprising Justices R Mahadevan and Joymalya Bagchi, was responding to submissions in a fresh petition seeking that judicial officers should not handle claims and objections from those facing deletion from voter lists.
Earlier, the SC had allowed deployment of district judges and civil judges of West Bengal in the ongoing SIR process. It had also asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to requisition judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to handle about 80 lakh claims and objections in the revision exercise.
On Tuesday, the bench reviewed a fresh report from the Calcutta High Court (HC) Chief Justice and issued several additional directions. It noted that judicial officers had examined 10.16 lakh claims and objections by the evening of March 9. The court directed that the Election Commission of India (ECI) must not introduce any mandatory requirement that could disrupt the process without approval from the HC. It also said technical issues affecting the online portal must be resolved promptly.
The court also said the Calcutta HC Chief Justice may request some former HC judges, preferably from the Calcutta High Court or neighbouring states, to serve on the appellate tribunals. Once recommended, the ECI will notify them as appellate tribunals to hear such appeals. The number of members on each bench will be decided by the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice.
According to the report, 500 judicial officers from West Bengal and about 200 from Odisha and Jharkhand have been deployed for the exercise and are working round the clock. Around 700 login IDs had been created by March 8, 2026 to facilitate mobilisation and redeployment in sensitive districts.
