West Bengal SIR: Supreme Court allows deployment of civil judges; says bring judicial officers from outside if needed

The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that the Calcutta High Court can also deploy civil judges with experience of at least three years for expediting the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal..Observing that there was a trust deficit between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and West Bengal government, the Court on February 20 had ordered deployment of district judges and additional district judges, including the retired judges, for smooth conduct of the SIR.Subsequently, the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court in a note to the top court highlighted the enormity of the exercise – 250 judicial officers have been tasked with deciding about 50 Lakh cases of voters under the logical discrepancy and unmapped category.Even if each judge decides 250 cases each day, 80 days would be needed to complete the exercise, it was estimated..Consequently, the Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi today allowed deployment of civil judge to ensure the work on a war footing basis. "Taking note of this fact and the time constraints, we are of the view that further clarifications are needed to increase the catchment area of judicial officers," the Bench saidThe Court also said that the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court can also approach the Chief Justices of Orissa and Jharkhand High Courts for seeking assistance of judicial officers from these two neighboring states."If the High Court Chief Justice feels that further human resource is needed he may approach chief Justices of neighboring states - Orissa and Jharkhand High Court to draw serving and retired judicial officers of those states in similar rank who shall be entrusted to complete the verification work in west bengal. Travel, boarding, lodging of such officers shall be borne by the election commission of India," it ordered..Meanwhile, the Bench also issued a clarification on the documents that can be accepted during the processing of claims."The order of this Court on Sept 2025 where aadhaar was allowed as proof of identity and order of this court passed on the writ petition relating to Madhyamik admit card and password certificate shall be admitted. We state that all such documents whether electronically updated or physically handed over before Feb 14,2026 shall be considered," the Court ordered.It also clarified that ECI can go ahead with publication of the final list on February 28 and thereafter supplementary list can be published on continuous basis."We deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 and declare that voters enlisted in such supplementary lists shall be deemed to be part of final list published on February 28, 2026," the Bench said..On February 9, the Court had directed the State of West Bengal to ensure that officers provided by it to the ECI report for the duty. However, the ECI later alleged that it was not being provided well qualified officers. This led to the passing of order for deployment of judicial officers.The Court last week made it clear that every direction or order that may be passed by the judicial officers or former judicial officers shall be deemed to be a direction issued by the Court, and the State authorities shall be obligated to comply with the same immediately to ensure the timely completion of the SIR process..Last year, the ECI had held an SIR in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls there. Multiple petitions, including those filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW), challenged the legality of the process. However, the ECI proceeded with the SIR since the top court did not impose any stay on the same.Subsequently, the ECI extended the SIR to other States and Union Territories, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This led to multiple petitions challenging the same. The Court reserved its decision on them on January 29..West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee subsequently moved the Court challenging the ECI's decision to hold a SIR in the State and sought a direction that the polls be conducted on the basis of the existing rolls prepared last year. She also sought an urgent direction to halt deletion of voters - particularly those under the “Logical Discrepancy” category, from the electoral rolls.On February 4, Banerjee appeared in person before the Court and flagged various issues in the SIR. She alleged that the ECI targeted the state just ahead of the assembly elections this year."They only targeted Bengal on the eve of elections. What was the hurry? What takes two years is being done in three months even when festival, harvesting season is there," Banerjee said.The Court then asked the ECI to be careful while sending notices to voters on the basis of name mismatches. However, the Court later also made it clear that it will not allow any impediments in the conduct of SIR..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.