New Delhi, 09 March (H.S.): The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition challenging the deletion of voters' names from West Bengal's electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), scheduling arguments for Tuesday.Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy, representing petitioners whose names were struck off despite prior enrollment and voting history, mentioned the urgent plea before a bench led by Chief Justice Suryakant.

The court noted their documents were rejected but questioned appellate jurisdiction over judicial officers' decisions. Guruswamy insisted appeals were maintainable, securing the expedited listing.

On February 24, the apex court had greenlit deploying out-of-state judicial officers—including West Bengal civil judges, plus Jharkhand and Odisha appointees—to process over 80 lakh claims and objections. This followed Calcutta High Court Chief Justice's warning of a judicial manpower crunch for 50,000+ logical discrepancies (e.g., parent-child age mismatches), requiring 250 officers for 80 days. The Election Commission will cover travel, stay, and honorariums.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar