West Bengal SIR: Constitution illustrator's grandson, his wife excluded from voter roll

Suprabuddha Sen, the grandson of Constitution of India's illustrator Nandlal Bose, said that his and his wife's names are missing from the West Bengal voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) conducted ahead of the State elections, Scroll reported..As per a Dainik Bhaskar English report, Sen and wife claimed that their names were among those initially marked as “pending”. The names were later removed after adjudication..The original document of the Constitution of India contains illustrations/ drawings that take us on a journey through India’s culture and history, the remnants of which are reflected in the vast diversity of our people.It is replete with drawings of Mohenjodaro seals, scenes from Vedic Asram, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Buddha's and Mahavir's lives, scene depicting the spread of Buddhism by Emperor Asoka, Gupta art and Mughal Architecture.It also has portraits of Akbar, Shivaji, Guru Gobind Singh, Tipu Sultan, Rani Lakshmibai, Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.All of these were drawn by Nandlal Bose considered a pioneer of modern Indian art. He was born in Bihar and died at Santiniketan in West Bengal..Republic Day 2020: How the illustrations in the original Constitution depict the rich cultural history of India .The Election Commission’s SIR exercise in West Bengal involves a fresh verification of electoral rolls through enumeration, publication of draft rolls and a claims and objections process. The exercise has been under scrutiny, with questions raised over procedural clarity and safeguards during verification.Among those excluded from the initial voter list was former Calcutta High Court Justice Sahidullah Munshi and his family members. Speaking to Bar & Bench, he said,“No reasons were assigned to me why my name was deleted, so I do not know on what ground I can appeal before the appellate tribunal.”He had also flagged the absence of documentation in the process.“Documents that I have submitted, no receipts were given to me as to what sort of documents were given. So even if they want to decline later that the documents were improper, I do not really know because no receipt was given to me."Their names were, however, later added after Justice Munshi raised concerns over the process, stating that despite submitting documents twice and undergoing verification, his name had been marked as “not found” in the electoral rolls..In February, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court to challenge Election Commission of India (ECI)'s decision to hold an SIR in the State.Expressing an apprehension of immediate and irreversible threat of mass disenfranchisement of eligible voters in the upcoming state assembly elections, Banerjee has sought a direction that the polls be conducted on the basis of the existing rolls prepared last year.She has also prayed that the electoral authorities be directed that the cases involving name mismatches or spelling variations in the 'logical discrepancy' category not be called for hearing during the ongoing SIR process..On February 20, the Supreme Court ordered the deployment of judicial officers, including retired judges, for the smooth conduct of the SIR exercise.The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipin Pancholi said that there was a clear lack of cooperation between the State government and the ECI..Data accessed by Bar & Bench shows that 900 odd judicial officers deciding objections to the exclusion of voters from the electoral list after the SIR in West Bengal decided 52 lakh objections in a span of 27 working days.From February 23 to April 2, 52 lakh cases of voters objecting to their exclusion from the final electoral roll were decided.This amounts to a disposal rate of 1.92 lakh cases a day. .Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.