The Supreme Court will hear pleas challenging the freezing of electoral rolls ahead of West Bengal’s assembly elections.
The bench will also take up the Malda ‘gherao’ case, earlier transferred to the NIA using Article 142 powers.
Around 60 lakh claims linked to voter deletions have already been decided, with a panel set up to streamline appeals.
SC to Hear Pleas on Bengal Voter Roll Freeze, SIR Row Today
Top court to examine electoral roll revision and Malda judicial gherao cases
Summary
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of pleas about the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal.
A panel made up of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi would hear the pleas in accordance with the highest court's April 13 cause list.
On April 10, the top court had agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming assembly polls in West Bengal.
On April 9, the electoral rolls for the assembly seats up for first-stage voting were finalised and frozen by the poll panel. West Bengal will hold two phases of assembly elections on April 23 and 29. Votes will be tallied on May 4.
The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters' list for these assembly polls.
The suo motu case concerning the "gherao" of seven judicial officers involved in the SIR exercise in the Malda district of West Bengal would also be heard by the bench on Monday.
The top court ordered the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to handle cases about the "gherao" of seven judicial officers in Malda while hearing the case on April 6. The court noted that politics was being introduced into government offices and the West Bengal secretariat, undermining the credibility of the bureaucracy.
Since rioting is not a listed offence under the NIA Act, the Supreme Court used its plenary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to transfer about 12 cases about the April 1 incident.
On April 6, the bench noted that around 60 lakh claims and objections of those removed from voters' lists in the SIR in West Bengal have been decided.
It had asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a three-member panel of former senior judges to frame uniform procedures for 19 tribunals for deciding appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls.
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