NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday passed an “extraordinary order”, directing Calcutta HC to appoint serving and former judicial officers in poll-bound West Bengal to act as Electoral Register Officers (ERO) for the adjudication of claims and objections in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the State, Live Law reported.The court said that the judicial officers will receive support from micro-observers and officials of the state government. It directed the collectors and SPs to provide logistical support and security to the officers.This came as the top court flagged the “trust deficit” between the Mamata Banerjee-led state government and the Election Commission.
SC said that the “extraordinary order” came in the wake of the “extraordinary circumstances” that have arisen in the state.Recognizing the exceptional circumstances, a bench headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court to appoint both serving and retired judicial officers at the level of district judge or additional district judge to resolve pending claims and objections regarding voter list inclusions and exclusions, especially in cases involving “logical discrepancies.”The intervention came to address the deadlock between the EC and the Bengal government regarding the deputation and rank of officers for the SIR of the state’s electoral rolls, noting that it was “nearly impossible” to decide the appropriate rank of officials to be deployed by either party.The top court comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M Pancholi was hearing SIR-related cases in Bengal.
