The Supreme Court may have ordered receipts for documents submitted at the SIR hearings on “logical discrepancies”, but the Election Commission had not passed on any such intimation to the personnel on the ground till Tuesday evening.
Throughout the day, thousands of voters whose voting rights the commission wants to reverify left the hearing centres without any receipt for the documents they submitted.
Some centres were still insisting on Class X “pass certificates”, instead of admit cards, though the apex court on Monday asked the commission to accept admit cards too.
Conversations with commission officials on the ground at multiple centres revealed they had “no such direction” from their bosses.
At Humayun Kabir Institute on Biresh Guha Street in Park Circus, where voters from the Ballygunge Assembly constituency had come, commission officials insisted that the voters provide board exam pass certificates as proof of date of birth.
“We are still asking them to give pass certificates. But many are telling us that they did not pass the exam. In such cases, we are accepting admit cards, but also asking for Aadhaar or passport or PAN card,” said an official at the hearing centre.
An assistant election registration officer (AERO), a micro observer and the BLO (booth-level officer) of the part for which the hearing is being held are conducting the hearings.
A BLO said they were uploading admit cards as a valid document, but they were being rejected during verification by officials senior to them.
SIR Hearing is going on at Government of West Bengal Central Calcutta Polytechnic , 21, Convent Road, Kolkata - 14 on Tuesday afternoon. Bishwarup Dutta
On Monday, the Supreme Court told the EC’s counsel that the commission should accept the admit card. In the written order, uploaded on Tuesday, the bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant said: “Madhyamik (Class 10) admit card, which discloses date of birth of the candidate, may be submitted apart from Madhyamik Pass Certificate during hearing.”
Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Dipankar Datta, both of whom were earlier judges at Calcutta High Court, are also on the Supreme Court bench that passed the order.
“The admit card issued by the (Bengal school) board has a presumption under the law. If it is given, it has to be accepted,” Justice Bagchi said during Tuesday’s hearing.
A BLO from another hearing centre in Ballygunge, Aliah University, said the commission officials were still not handing over any receipt for the documents that the voters were submitting.
At both centres, only a receipt with a stamp that the voter attended the hearing was handed over. This has been the practice since the hearings began in early December.
The written court order, published on Tuesday, says: “The official, who will receive the documents or accord a hearing to the affected persons, may also certify the receipt of documents and the conduct of such a hearing.”
A few kilometres away, at the Central Calcutta Polytechnic near the Moulali crossing, admit cards were being accepted, but no receipt for the documents was being handed over. Voters of the Entally Assembly constituency came to this centre.
SIR Hearing is going on at Humayun Kabir Institute at Dr.Biresh Guha Street, Park Circus on Tuesday afternoon. Bishwarup Dutta.
Chandan Verma, 23, did not know why he had been called to the hearing. His father’s name was on the 2002 list in a constituency in Uttar Pradesh. Verma wrote all that while filling out the enumeration form.
“I did not get any receipt for the documents I submitted. I am still not sure why I have been called, but there is no point arguing. There is no spelling mismatch,” said Verma, a software developer, who took half a day off from work to attend the hearing. He said he would go to his New Town office in the second half of Tuesday.
Ayan Mitra, 43, also came for the hearing. His name featured on the 2002 list, yet he was asked to appear for the hearing. He did not get a receipt either.