Supreme Court Directs Election Commission to Address Voter List Discrepancies in West Bengal

Supreme Court's Directive on Voter List Issues

The Supreme Court issued a directive on Monday, instructing the Election Commission (EC) to display the names of individuals identified with "logical discrepancies" in the voter lists at various local government offices in West Bengal, including village panchayat buildings and block offices.

The court noted that approximately 12.5 million voters in the state are included in this list of "logical discrepancies." These discrepancies involve mismatches in the names of parents in relation to the 2002 voter list, as well as age differences of less than 15 years or more than 50 years between voters and their parents.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Dipankar Dutta, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that individuals potentially affected by the special intensive revision (SIR) of voter lists in West Bengal should be allowed to submit their documents or objections.

The Supreme Court mandated that facilities for submitting documents and objections be established within the panchayat buildings or block offices. The bench emphasized that the state government must provide adequate manpower to the Election Commission for deployment in these offices.

The court further instructed that for smooth operations, each district must carefully adhere to the guidelines issued for staff by the Election Commission of India (ECI) or the state government.

Additionally, the Supreme Court directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal to ensure that there are no law and order issues and that all activities proceed without disruption. This ruling comes in response to petitions alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the ongoing SIR process in West Bengal.