The Supreme Court on Monday told the Election Commission to publish the names of about 1.2 crore persons against whom the poll panel had raised “logical discrepancy” objections during the special intensive revision exercise in West Bengal, Bar and Bench reported.
Considering the large number of such notices, the court directed that the names of the persons in the logical discrepancy list be displayed in gram panchayats, block offices and ward offices.
Logical discrepancies include a mismatch in parents’ names, low age gap with parents and the number of children of the parents being above six. Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen was among those who got such a notice, with the Election Commission citing a gap of less than 15 years between him and his parents.
The draft electoral rolls for West Bengal under the special intensive revision exercise were published on December 16. The names of over 58 lakh voters were removed from voter lists in the state as they had either died, migrated outside the state or did not submit their enumeration forms.
Voters with “logical discrepancies” in their forms are separate from those whose names were removed, and from about 30 lakh “unmapped voters”, who could not establish a familial link with the voters’ list of 2002.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that those who received notices from the Election Commission can submit their documents or objections through authorised agents, who can be booth-level agents, Live Law reported.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant also directed that the offices where documents and objections can be submitted should be set up within panchayat or block offices, so that voters do not have to travel far for the purpose.
If the documents are found to be unsatisfactory, poll officials should give the persons an opportunity for a hearing, which the agent should be able to attend, the court said.
The court also verbally observed that the Class 10 admit card issued by the state education board must be accepted as a proof in the enumeration process, Live Law reported.
Earlier on Monday, lawyer Kapil Sibal, representing Trinamool Congress leaders, said that only 300 venues had been approved for hearings, while 1,900 were actually needed, Bar and Bench reported. He also questioned the nature of objections raised by the poll panel.
“They say if Ganguli is spelled differently... They omit the name,” Sibal said. “My lord knows that Datta is spelt differently. They are issuing notice with only the aim to exclude the names.”
Lawyer Rakesh Dwiwedi, representing the Election Commission, said that there were cases where the age difference between the parents and child was only 15 years.
However, the court asked how this could be a logical discrepancy, Live Law reported.
“How can 15 years age gap between mother and son be logical discrepancy?” Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked. “…It is not as if we don’t have child marriages in the country.”
Kant also objected to the Election Commission issuing directions through WhatsApp rather than an official circular. “There is no question of running everything through WhatsApp,” he said, according to Bar and Bench. “Circular has to be issued.”
Trinamool Congress National General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee welcomed the court’s directions, saying that the “much-needed intervention” had dealt a decisive blow to the “cruel, politically motivated and deeply unjust SIR process”.
“This is a judicial slap across the face of the Election Commission, and the people of Bengal will deliver an even sharper democratic slap to the BJP at the ballot box,” Banerjee said on social media.
The court has been hearing a batch of petitions against the validity of the special intensive revision of the electoral rolls in several states, including West Bengal. The exercise is underway in 12 states and Union Territories.
In Bihar, where the revision was completed ahead of the Assembly elections in November, at least 47 lakh voters were excluded from the final electoral roll.
Concerns had been raised after the announcement in Bihar that the exercise could remove eligible voters from the roll.
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