Kolkata, Feb 20 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that the Supreme Court’s order directing the deployment of serving as well as retired judicial officers to oversee adjudication of claims and objections arising from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal was a major setback for the Mamata Banerjee-led state government.
In a statement posted on his social media handle, BJP’s Information Technology Cell chief and the party’s central observer for West Bengal, Amit Malviya, said the apex court’s directive would ensure judicial oversight and prevent alleged attempts to compromise the electoral roll revision process.
Malviya said the deployment of judicial officers would replace administrative officials working under district magistrates, who also serve as district electoral officers (DEOs), and who, he alleged, had approved cases with incomplete, illegible, or missing documents.
“The Court has asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to spare serving judicial officers, along with former officers in the rank of Additional District Judge or District Judge, to revisit and dispose of pending claims under the category of ‘logical discrepancy’. Each judicial officer will be assisted by micro observers from the Election Commission of India (ECI), ensuring transparency and accountability,” Malviya said.
He further claimed that 4,66,323 documents are currently pending with district electoral officers (district magistrates) for verification, while around 30 lakh documents remain pending with electoral registration officers (EROs) and assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) for re-verification. He added that decisions regarding documents submitted by nearly 20 lakh voters are yet to be taken.
According to Malviya, district magistrates and sub-divisional officers had allegedly delayed scrutiny of documents and kept original submissions pending, which he claimed could have allowed approvals without proper verification or documented justification.
“All these cases will now come under judicial review and supervision,” he said.
Malviya also said the Supreme Court’s order ensures that the final electoral rolls will be published as scheduled on February 28, and that the Election Commission will issue supplementary lists thereafter to incorporate decisions taken during the adjudication process.
“The well-laid plans of the compromised Mamata Banerjee administration are beginning to unravel. As judicial officers, backed by ECI observers, review the pending documents and objections raised through Form 7 submissions, accountability will finally be enforced. The integrity of West Bengal’s electoral rolls will now be restored under judicial oversight,” he added.
The Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls is being carried out ahead of the upcoming elections in West Bengal, with authorities examining claims, objections, and discrepancies to ensure accuracy and transparency in the voters’ list.pol
–IANS
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