The Supreme Court on Monday said the Election Commission could display the names of the voters included in the list of “logical discrepancy” during the special intensive revision (SIR) at the offices of gram panchayats, blocks, talukas, sub-divisions and wards.
The exercise should be made completely timely and all persons should be given a fair opportunity, said the division bench of the apex court that included Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Dipankar Datta.
The CJI also said the Election Commission would have to accept the Madhyamik – Class X board exams of the Bengal state education board – admit cards that it had disallowed earlier among the list of documents that an elector can submit during the SIR hearing.
The bench was hearing a petition filed by Trinamool Rajya Sabha MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen on the SIR process underway in Bengal.
The CJI-led bench directed the state government to provide adequate manpower to the Election Commission, and the director-general of police to ensure there is no law and order problem at the hearing venues.
The bench also allowed the affected persons included in the logical discrepancy list be allowed to submit their documents through a booth-level agent (BLA), usually affiliated to a political party, with an authorisation letter from the elector.
An acknowledgement of the documents received by the poll officials will also have to be provided.
Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee had complained last week the poll panel was not issuing receipts for the documents submitted by those called for hearing.