After the state of Bihar, Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has started in full swing in the state of West Bengal, along with 11 states and UTs. Booth-Level-Officers (BLO) have started going door-to-door distributing enumeration forms. Even after the Election Commission of India's (ECI) continuous effort, an atmosphere of confusion has clouded the minds of the people of West Bengal.
Amid all of these, the Calcutta High Court directed the ECI to file an affidavit explaining in a detailed manner how the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is being implemented in the state of West Bengal's voter list.
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The direction was passed by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the Court's supervision over the entire SIR process.
The public interest litigation 'PINTU KARAR AND ANR VS THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ORS' also sought security arrangements for the BLO officers who are going from door-to-door distributing the enumeration form. As they have been reportedly getting threats from voters during their duty, according to a Live Law report.
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Even though the Bench has issued the direction for the ECI to file the affidavit explaining the SIR implementation process, the Court did not issue any direction regarding the security of the SIR workers, while highlighting that the state can arrange protection for its employees.
Over the course of the hearing, the ECI was asked for the reason for data from the 2002 electoral roll is being used as an absolute unit for carrying out the SIR, by the petitioner's side. The counsel appearing from the side of the ECI responded, saying that in the year 2002 was the last time SIR was conducted in the state. Therefore, the electoral roll of 2002 is the last one to have revised information.
The Court has ordered the ECI to file the affidavit by 18 November.
