West Bengal SIR | Supreme Court Refuses To Entertain Objection To ECI's Training To Judicial Officers

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain the objections raised by the Trinamool Congress to the Election Commission of India imparting training to judicial officers who have been deployed for claims verification in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in the State of West Bengal.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the ECI's training module cannot override the Supreme Court's orders, and that the judicial officers must be trusted.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, accompanied by Sr Advs Kalyan Bandhopadhyay and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for the petitioners, orally mentioned the matter before the CJI this morning. "Something strange has happened, directions/ modalities to the judicial officers have been passed by the Election Commission behind your back after the order of the court," Sibal said. He said that the judicial officers have been given a training module by the ECI, specifying which all documents should be accepted.

Expressing reluctance to hear the matter, CJI Surya Kant said, "Now don't doubt our judicial officers, ultimately they will decide."

Sibal said that as per the order, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has to decide the modalities. CJI said that modalities meant the logistical arrangements. "Don't stall the process with small excuses; we cannot hear like this. There has to be an end to this. We passed an order beyond your imagination," CJI said. CJI asserted that the judicial officers are aware as to what is to be done.

Justice Bagchi then pointed out that the Supreme Court has clearly stated in the order which all documents can be accepted, and the ECI cannot override them.

"Who else other than ECI will give the training. We have made it clear what are the documents to be looked at. Our directions are clear as daylight, they cannot be overriden," Justice Bagchi said.

Sibal said that the training module instructs the judicial officers to not to accept domicile certificates. "If our orders cover such a document, it will be looked into.." Justice Bagchi said.

Sibal requested that the judicial officers be asked to decide independently and uninfluenced by the ECI's instructions. He argued that even the claim of the Chief Secretary was rejected.

CJI replied that the judicial officers are aware of the Supreme Court's order and there was no need to make any clarification. "Our orders are clear," CJI said. Justice Bagchi pointed out that for the SIR work, the entire judiciary has been "evacuated."

Last week, the Court had directed the deployment of judicial officers to adjudicate the claims in the SIR process, in view of the dispute between the State and the ECI over the appointment of State officers. Earlier this week, the Court allowed judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha also be deployed, since sufficient judges are not available in West Bengal to complete the work before the deadline.