In West Bengal, claims and objections related to SIR will be heard by judicial officers (judges). The Supreme Court has given this order in view of the allegations leveled against each other by the state government and the Election Commission. The Supreme Court has said that efforts should be made to complete the SIR process in the state soon.
The Supreme Court has requested the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to make judicial officers of the District Judge (DJ) or ADJ level available for SIR. Apart from serving officers, these may also include retired officers. All these present or former judges should be those whose record has been spotless.
At present, the documents of people falling in the logical discrepancy category are being examined in West Bengal. The West Bengal government had accused the Election Commission of making the investigation difficult by appointing a special officer. The Election Commission had said that the state government did not provide qualified and senior (Class A) officers as per its requirement, hence, it had to appoint special officers. Amidst this debate, the Supreme Court said that it is giving extraordinary orders in view of the extraordinary circumstances.
During the hearing, the Election Commission told the court that the final list of SIR in West Bengal is to be published on February 28. He will try to complete the work by then. If necessary, a supplementary list will be issued even after this. Taking this statement on record, the court said that the Election Commission should try to publish the list on February 28, but this list should not be considered final. If needed, the Commission can issue a supplementary list even after this.
The Supreme Court has once again expressed concern over the efforts by miscreants to disrupt the SIR process in the state. In this regard, the court expressed dissatisfaction over the reply filed by the state Director General of Police (DGP) and asked him to submit a report after taking action on the complaints received regarding obstruction in the work of SIR. The next hearing of the case will be in the first week of March.
