SC cautions EC on voter revision, asks Bengal to replace ‘micro-observers’

New Delhi/Kolkata: In a tense hearing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Wednesday orally cautioned the Election Commission to be “careful” while issuing hearing notices, while also nudging the state government to deploy more Grade B officers to eliminate the need for “micro-observers”.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, was hearing a clutch of petitions challenging the SIR process in the state, including one filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who later addressed the court in person.

Appearing for Banerjee, senior advocate Shyam Divan told the court that only four days remain for completion of hearings, even as the scale of the exercise remains enormous. According to him, 32 lakh voters are “unmapped”, 1.36 crore names figure in the logical discrepancy list, and hearings are still pending for 63 lakh voters.

Divan also flagged the deputation of 8,300 micro-observers, arguing that such a role is not contemplated under the Constitution. He alleged that the Election Commission was rejecting documents such as domicile certificates, Aadhaar cards and OBC certificates, while failing to disclose reasons for inclusion of names in the logical discrepancy list.

Banerjee, who had sought permission to appear in person through an interlocutory application, told the court that “justice is crying behind the door”.

She said she had written six letters to the Election Commission without receiving any response.

When the Bench observed that the State of West Bengal had already filed a writ petition and was represented by senior counsel, Banerjee pleaded for time to place her points. After she asked for five minutes, the Chief Justice assured her she would be given 15.

Alleging that the SIR exercise was designed for deletion rather than inclusion, Banerjee offered everyday examples to underline the impact. “Suppose a daughter after marriage goes to her in-laws’ house… questions are raised why she is using her husband’s title. That is what they are doing,” she said, claiming that women, migrants, and the urban poor were being unilaterally deleted from the rolls. “Sometimes poor people purchase flats. Sometimes they shift… but all are deleted,” she added.

On her allegation that Aadhaar cards were being refused by the poll body, the Bench said it could not comment, having already reserved judgment on Aadhaar’s admissibility as a document for SIR.

Banerjee further alleged that micro-observers brought in from BJP-ruled states were deliberately deleting names of genuine voters and pointed out that such observers have no statutory backing.

Responding to this, counsel for the Election Commission submitted that micro-observers were being used only because the West Bengal government had failed to make available Grade B officers despite repeated requests.

The court orally asked the state government to ensure the availability of such officers so that the use of micro-observers could be done away with.

The matter has been listed for further hearing on Monday. The court also directed the issuance of notices in both petitions.