India, Aug. 11 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Election Commission to provide details of the appeals decided so far by the apex court-appointed tribunals, which were tasked to deal with the pleas of those deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of the plea filed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking expeditious disposal of SIR-related cases before appellate tribunals in the state. The top court sought details of the cases decided and pending before the appellate tribunals in the state. While issuing the notice to the poll panel, the bench has fixed the plea of Chowdhury for further hearing on August 25. On March 10, the top court had ordered the setting up of independent appellate tribunals headed by former high court judges to hear appeals against exclusions from voter lists during the SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal. Besides setting up appellate tribunals, the top court had allowed deployment of trial court judges of West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand to deal with the SIR-related complaints. The SIR exercise in West Bengal was held under the court's supervision amid allegations of irregularities and a "trust deficit" between the then state government and the Election Commission.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.