Bengal SIR training module row: SC says judicial officers won’t be ‘influenced’
The state government argued that the EC had issued a training module for judicial officers deployed, following a Feb 20 direction given by the top court
The Supreme Court said on Friday (February 27) expressed confidence in the integrity of its judicial officers, saying they will not be "influenced by anything", after the West Bengal government submitted that the Election Commission (EC) had issued a training module for judicial officers deployed in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
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The apex court's observation came after senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the poll-bound state, said, "Something strange has happened. While your lordships passed the order that all the modalities will be settled by the chief justice (of the Calcutta High Court) and the committee, what they have done is, behind the back, they have issued directions to the judicial officers and issued a training module saying this is what they should accept and this is what they should not accept."
'There has to be an end to it'
To that, Chief Justice Surya Kant said the deployed officers in the state would take a call.
"We can't hear like this. There has to be an end to it. We know our judicial officers, and they are not to be influenced by anything," the CJI said, adding that the court has made it very clear what documents are to be examined.
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"Our orders are as clear as daylight," Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was hearing the matter along with the chief justice, said.
The bench also said neither the commission nor the state government would go beyond the orders passed by the apex court in the matter.
Top court gave 'extraordinary' direction
Dismayed over the ongoing tussle between Bengal's Mamata Banerjee government and the EC over the controversial SIR, which the ruling Trinamool Congress has accused of a deliberate ploy to help the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming elections, the top court on February 20 issued an "extraordinary" direction to deploy serving and former district judges to assist the poll panel in the state SIR.
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On Tuesday (February 24), the top court allowed the deployment of civil judges from Bengal, in addition to 250 district judges, besides requisitioning of judicial officers from the neighbouring states of Jharkhand and Odisha to handle 80 lakh claims and objections of those facing deletion from the electoral roll in the ongoing exercise.
It may be mentioned here that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared before the Supreme Court earlier in February to challenge the EC and the SIR process, alleging that valid voters were being intentionally omitted from the rolls.
(With agency inputs)