West Bengal SIR | Vote Gap With BJP Less Than Pending Appeals : Trinamool Congress Tells Supreme Court

The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) made a claim before the Supreme Court on Monday that the deletions in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll materially affected the results in certain assembly constituencies in West Bengal.

Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandhopadhyay submitted before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymlaya Bagchi, that in 31 constituencies, the winning margin of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the AITC was less than the number of persons deleted in the SIR adjudication process. In many cases, the deletions and the loss margin were almost the same, he added.

Bandhopadhyay submitted that one candidate lost by 862 votes in a constituency where over 5432 persons were removed from the rolls for adjudication.

He claimed that the vote gap between the AITC and the BJP was nearly 32 lakhs, and nearly 35 lakh appeals were pending before the appellate tribunals. He referred to an earlier observation made by Justice Bagchi that if the winning margin was less than the number of deleted voters, then the matter may require judicial examination.

The bench told Bandhopadhyay that an Interlocutory Application be filed with the requisite details.  "Whatever you want to say about results...which may have materially affected because of deletions which are under adjudication...that requires an independent IA," Justice Bagchi said.  

Bandhopadhyay also informed the bench that ex-HC Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam has resigned as a member of the appellate tribunal. "What can we do? We can't compel anyone..." CJI replied.

The CJI said that the priority will be to ensure that appeals are decided in an expeditious manner.

Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy told the bench that at the present rate, the appellate tribunals will take at least 4 years to dispose of the appeals.

Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the Election Commission, submitted that the proper remedy is to file an election petition. Bandhopadhyay then requested the bench to pass an order stating that SIR deletions can be a ground to file an election petition. "Is this a ground in an election petition? Pass an order that this will also be a ground in election petition." The CJI asked, "How can we pass such an order?"

The bench said that it will examine the matter if a proper application is filed. "We indicated to you...subsequent event - you are at liberty to file IA. Mr. Naidu's objection will come as a counter. We will look into it and pass order. On pendency of appeals - report from Hon'ble CJ required...to take stock in what timeline they can be resolved," Justice Bagchi said. 

The matter was accordingly adjourned.