New Delhi, April 3 -- The Supreme Court on Thursday deprecated the "complete failure of civil and police administration" in West Bengal, taking suo motu cognisance of the hostage-taking of seven judicial officers in Malda district and describing it as a "deplorable" and "calculated, well-planned" attempt to browbeat the judiciary and challenge the authority of the apex court. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi moved swiftly to secure the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, directing the Election Commission of India (ECI) to immediately requisition and deploy central forces at all places where judicial officers are adjudicating voter objections. The court also asked ECI to hand over the probe into the April 1 incident to either the Central Bureau of Investigation or the National Investigation Agency, while issuing notices to the chief secretary, director general of police, home secretary and district officials of West Bengal to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against them. Posting the matter for April 6, the bench directed the officials to remain present online, adding that it would closely monitor compliance of its directions and the probe into the incident. The court's order was anchored in a detailed account received from the Calcutta high court chief justice, which painted a disturbing picture of administrative paralysis. Seven judicial officers, including three women, were confined for nearly 10 hours inside a Block Development Office's premises in Kaliachak, Malda, after being surrounded by protesters from around 2.30 pm on Wednesday. Despite urgent communications from the high court registry to the state administration, no effective action was taken until late in the night. The officers were denied even basic necessities such as food and water, and senior officials, including the district magistrate and superintendent of police, did not reach the spot. The situation escalated to the point where the high court chief justice himself had to intervene, with the director general of poliec and home secretary eventually arriving at his residence around 11 pm. The officers were released only around midnight, and even then, the court recorded, they were pelted with stones and assaulted with bamboo sticks while leaving the premises. Around 700 judicial officers are adjudicating the applications of six million people put under a controversial 'logical discrepancy' category during the SIR. Tensions have risen in Bengal as the two-phase polls draw nearer. Terming the episode "shocking", the Supreme Court said: "This is not a routine incident. it ex facie appears to be a calculated and deliberate move to demoralise judicial officers and obstruct them from discharging their duties." The bench added that such conduct "amounts to challenging the authority of this court", since the officers were acting as its "extended hands" in supervising the SIR process. During the hearing, the bench expressed visible displeasure at attempts to shift responsibility between the state administration and ECI. At the outset, the CJI asked, "Have you all seen what happened yesterday?" As senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, acknowledged the incident, the bench questioned the failure of authorities to maintain law and order....