'No option left': SC puts Bengal SIR under judicial oversight

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the appointment of either serving or former additional district judges as judicial officers to oversee the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bengal. The bench said the officers would be appointed by the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, adding it was left with no other choice as it flagged a trust gap between the Bengal government and the Election Commission of India.The judicial officers can look into claims and objections, the Supreme Court said.
"There is an unfortunate scenario of allegations and counter allegations which shows trust deficit between two constitutional functionaries... that is the state government and the Election Commission. Now, the process is stuck at the stage of claims and objections of the people who have been included in the discrepancy list," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said.. It said it had to pass an "extraordinary order" due to "extraordinary circumstances". To work out the finer details of the judicial officers' plan, the Supreme Court directed the State Election Commissioner, chief secretary, police chief, and other top officers to hold a meeting with the high court chief justice Saturday.
"A situation is being created where judicial officers have to intervene... We were expecting cooperation by the state. Is this the level of communication from the state? For the February 9 order, you responded on February 17. You are saying the state government is examining the officers. Examining, how? You should have written that 8,500 officers are sent. We are not microobservers. We are disappointed to see this. We thought states would cooperate. We don't want private explanations," Chief Justice Kant said.
The Supreme Court ordered that collectors and Superintendent of Police must help and offer all logistic support to the appointed judicial officers and their teams for a smooth completion of the pending SIR process. The Court allowed the publication of the final list of voters, so far as the process is completed, on the scheduled date of February 28. The Court said that the ECI can publish supplementary lists after the final date. Additionally, the Bengal DGP has been tasked to file a supplementary affidavit on the measures adopted regarding various complaints of threats to SIR officers.