'Process can’t be unending': SC wants SIR tribunals in Bengal to work faster
The Supreme Court of India has directed election tribunals in West Bengal to accelerate the processing of 34 lakh pending appeals regarding deleted voter names. The court expressed concern over the slow pace of adjudication but declined to set a strict deadline, opting instead to review performance statistics to provide technical support.
Why it matters
The case highlights critical concerns regarding electoral integrity and the disenfranchisement of voters, emphasizing the judiciary's role in ensuring administrative accountability in democratic processes.
NEW DELHI: With nearly 34 lakh appeals pending adjudication before SIR appellate tribunals against deletion of voters’ names in West Bengal, Supreme Court Tuesday decided to take stock of their performance and suggested they speed up their work, saying the process cannot be unending, even though it was unwilling to set a deadline for decision on appeals.“The process cannot be so slow that the next assembly elections would be due by the time the appeals are decided,” said CJI Surya Kant responding to a petition complaining about the slow rate of disposal of appeals by those whose names were deleted from electoral rolls during their Special Intensive Revision (SIR).Petitioner and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, through senior advocate Rauf Rahim said the progress in deciding appeals by the tribunals, set up on SC orders, is painfully slow and requires impetus to speed up disposal rate.
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