The Supreme Court on Thursday invoked Article 142 of the Constitution of India to direct the Election Commission to ensure deleted voters who are cleared by the appellate tribunals be included in the electoral rolls before the first and second phase of the Assembly election in Bengal.
Article 142 of the Constitution grants the Supreme Court the power to pass any decree or order “as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it, and any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India in such a manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and until, provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.”
A Supreme Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi invoked the court’s powers under Article 142 and directed the Election Commission of India that, “wherever the appellate tribunals are able to decide the appeals by April 21 or April 27, as the case may be, such appellate orders shall be given effect to by issuing a supplementary revised roll, and all necessary consequences with respect to the right to vote shall follow.”
The first phase of election will be held on April 23 and the supplementary list would have to be updated by April 21. For the second phase on April 29, the last date for updating the list is April 27.
“It goes without saying that the mere pendency of appeals preferred by excluded persons before the appellate tribunal shall not entitle them to exercise their right to vote,” the bench clarified.
A report submitted by the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to the top court mentioned that some 34.45 lakh appeals were pending before the tribunals.
The appellate tribunals now face the daunting task of settling as many as possible of these 34 lakh-plus appeals by April 21 for the first phase when elections will be held in 152 Assembly constituencies, and by April 27 for the last phase in the remaining 144 constituencies.
Last Sunday, social activist Yogendra Yadav said one judicial officer – engaged in deciding on cases of voters who had been listed as under adjudication – had examined 250 cases per day in Bengal, which could be calculated to 25 cases every hour, provided each judicial officer worked for 10 hours a day.
Little has been heard about progress since four cases were decided by the tribunals on April 9, the day when the electoral rolls for the second phase of polling on April 29 were frozen.
The Election Commission must issue the supplementary lists with the updated rolls up to two days before the polling date.
“We hope the same alacrity that was shown in deleting the voters will be displayed to prepare the supplementary rolls as ordered by the Supreme Court,” said a Trinamool leader.
Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul had formed a three-member committee – comprising former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and former judges Pradipta Roy and Pranab Kumar Deb – to frame the guidelines for the tribunals which will function from the premises of the Syama Prasad Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation (SPM-NIWAS) in the Calcutta suburb of Joka.
On the campaign trail on Thursday, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who had personally appeared in the SC arguing against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, welcomed the top court’s order.
“I am very happy and proud of the judiciary. I fought this case myself and we got this verdict. There’s no one happier than myself today,” said the chief minister in Cooch Behar’s Dinhata.
Following the SIR process and the completion of the verification of voters marked under adjudication, the Election Commission had deleted the names of 27,16,393 voters from 60.06 lakh voters marked as under adjudication.
Those deleted had the option to approach the appellate tribunals to get themselves re-registered as voters. Since the draft rolls were published in last December, nearly 91 lakh voters have been deleted from the electoral rolls in Bengal.
On Monday, the apex court had rejected an appeal to allow the 27 lakh people excluded from the electoral rolls in Bengal to vote in the Assembly elections. A plea was made to allow these 27 lakh voters, who had appealed before the appellate tribunals, to vote.
After the final rolls were released on February 28, the total electors in Bengal stood at 6.44 crore with another 60.06 lakh voters marked under adjudication. Among the list of adjudicated voters, the judicial officers had found 32,68,119 eligible to vote and 27,16,393 as ineligible. Those found ineligible have applied to the 19 appellate tribunals.
In the past, the Supreme Court had invoked Article 142 to award compensations for the Bhopal gas tragedy victims, prohibiting sale of liquor near highways and nullifying the Chandigarh mayor elections, among some major decisions.
Mamata urged the voters deleted from the rolls to appeal before the tribunals.
“Everyone should apply at the tribunals and you’ll get your rights reinstated. The Supreme Court has given its verdict. A supplementary list for the first phase will be published on April 21. I will ask my party workers to make voter forms on the basis of this list so that the people can go to vote,” the chief minister said.