On Tuesday, the Supreme Court questioned the petitioners, asking them why they are so worried about SIR this time, as this is not he first time the ECI (Election Commission of India) is conducting this kind of revision of the electoral roll.
Meanwhile, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Jaymalya Bagchi also said that if satisfied with the petitioners' arguments, the court would cancel the entire 'SIR' process in all states, including Bengal, where it is being conducted. Special revision of voter lists has begun in 12 states and union territories of the country. Among these, six separate writ petitions have been filed regarding the 'SIR' process in just Tamil Nadu and West Bengal alone.
Cases have been filed by Tamil Nadu's ruling party DMK and Bengal's ruling party Trinamool Congress. Besides, CPI(M) and West Bengal State Congress have also filed separate cases. Two MPs, Mala Roy and Dola Sen, have filed the case in the Supreme Court on behalf of Trinamool.
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During the hearing of these cases on Tuesday, the court questioned, "Why are you people so apprehensive? They (Election Commission) have to answer all such issues and they will. Some deficiencies will have to be rectified and so it's a case of rectification of deficiencies."
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the petitioners, stated that this time the Election Commission is working with unusual haste, where earlier the voter list revision process used to take up to three years to complete, this time it is said to be finished in just one month. Which could exclude lakhs of genuine voters. In response, the court issued notices to all concerned parties asking for their statements. Meanwhile, a case regarding Bihar's 'SIR' process is pending in the Supreme Court. DMK argued that the 'SIR' guidelines give the Commission power to verify citizenship, which, according to the citizenship law, is solely the Centre's prerogative. Various concerns have also been expressed on behalf of Bengal.
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Sibal argued that Tamil Nadu has monsoons in November-December, making voter list revision difficult then. December-January is harvest time. Again, there are Christmas holidays. So naturally, participation will be low. This time is absolutely not suitable. He also added that many areas don't even have internet connectivity. Where will all this information be uploaded, in what format the notices will be in, when to submit - everything is still unclear. West Bengal's situation is even worse — there's no 4G, 5G connectivity there either.
Justice Kant stated that the Commission will have to answer, they will so nothing to worry about. The bench also pointed out that the peririoners are making it seem like voter lists are being prepared for the first time in the country.
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Sibal expressed concern over the SIR haste in West Bengal ahead of next year's scheduled assembly elections. He questioned, if the Commission makes any mistake while trying to complete the entire SIR process in Bengal within just two months and lakhs of valid voters are excluded from Bengal's voter list, who will be held responsible?
Senior lawyer Kalyan Bandyopadhyay supported him. After this, Justice Surya Kant announced that a detailed hearing of this case will be held on November 26 after the Election Commission's response following the court's notice. West Bengal State Congress has also filed a separate case in the Supreme Court seeking a stay order on Bengal's 'SIR'. The apex court has also accepted their case today. That petition will also be heard on November 26.
