Supreme Court Seeks ECI Response On Plea To Extend Directions Issued For West Bengal SIR To Tamil Nadu

The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Election Commission of India on an application seeking extension of the Court's earlier directions on publication of the 'logical discrepancy' list to the State of Tamil Nadu.

The application urges that the directions issued by the Court in the context of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal be made applicable to Tamil Nadu as well, particularly with respect to disclosure of the list of persons who were issued notices citing logical discrepancies during the revision exercise.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing an application filed by RS Bharati, Secretary of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party, represented by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal. Sibal submitted that the last date for filing of claims and objections in Tamil Nadu is January 30.

CJI Surya Kant orally observed that the directions passed in relation to West Bengal ought to apply to Tamil Nadu as well.

"Once we have laid down some uniform guidelines for Bengal there is no reason it cannot be applied in Tamil Nadu. So no order will be required," CJI said.

Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the ECI, sought time to seek instructions. The matter was therefore adjourned till tomorrow.

Last week, the Supreme Court passed a slew of directions to ensure that the verification of 'logical discrepancies' in the SIR process is done smoothly and transparently. On being informed that more than 1 crore persons included in the draft voters list were issued notice to explain logical discrepancies, the Court directed that their names be published in Panchayat offices. The Court also issued directions allowing them to submit documents at local level offices through authorized agents. The Court also mandated that acknowledgment receipts should be issued to persons submitting documents.