West Bengal SIR | Can't Fix Timeline For Appellate Tribunals, Says Supreme Court; Seek Data On Appeal Disposals

The Supreme Court on Tuesday orally commented that it cannot fix any timeline for the decisions by the Appellate Tribunals hearing appeals arising from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, even though it agreed to monitor their functioning.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana was hearing a writ petition filed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking various directions to streamline and expedite the disposals by the SIR Appellate Tribunals.The Court directed the Election Commission of India to furnish details on the quantum of disposals of appeals by the Appellate Tribunals, and tagged the matter with a similar petition, to be taken up on August 25.Senior Advocate Rauf Rahim, for the petitioner, submitted that the Tribunals are not expeditiously deciding the appeals of persons deleted from the electoral roll; meanwhile, benefits such as ration are being denied to those persons. Hence, there was a need to ensure that the Tribunals decide the matter in a timeframe, the senior counsel pressed.The Chief Justice asked how many appeals have been disposed of by the Tribunals so far. Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the Election Commission of India, agreed to get the data.The bench, while agreeing to examine the logistical issues relating to the tribunals, said that it cannot fix a timeline.Justice Bagchi observed: "Tribunals were set up pursuant to orders of this court. They have a role to play in the due process. So we need to see their performance. Nothing else. If the performance appears to be wanting with regard to the volume and time taken, then to request you to revisit and restructure the architecture of disposal. If there can be online access of the judge concerned, like you have in arbitration,...immediate concern is let us take a stock that substantial time has lapsed, what are the quantum of disposals? We are not concerned with the result itself, but the quantum. The output.."The Chief Justice commented that by the time the appeals are decided, the next elections will be held. "All the appeals...By the time the next election will be held," CJI said."If there is a logistical delay, we will address that. Will get the details," Naidu said."You may not address us. But we as creators of the Tribunals, also need to see how we can ensure an outcome of the due process. Just to file an appeal may not satisfy a litigant," Justice Bagchi said.The petitioner's counsel submitted that less than 1% of the appeals have been decided so far. Justice Bagchi said that the Court will see issues such as the number of tribunals, their working hours, their disposal rates etc.The petitioners' counsel then requested that a timeline for the decision may also be fixed. "Timeline we cannot fix," Justice Bagchi replied.The senior counsel then raised the issue of denial of PDS benefits to SIR-excluded persons, though their appeals are pending. Justice Bagchi said that the scope of the petition cannot be expanded, and the PDS issue is to be relegated to the High Court. Whether the State is denying welfare benefits to SIR-excluded persons is a different cause of action which has to be raised before the High Court.Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing in a connected matter, submitted that persons from far-flung areas are not able to access the Tribunals because of the poor infrastructure. The bench agreed to examine the logistical issues related to the Tribunals. "Let the Election Commission of India furnish details on the quantum of disposals of appeals by the appellate tribunals," the bench observed in the order adjourning the hearing.The Appellate Tribunals, headed by former High Court Judges, were constituted following the directions issued by the Supreme Court. Recently, the Calcutta High Court observed that at the present rate, 21 years will be required to decide the pending appeals, which are reportedly about 34 lakhs.The petitioner sought the following reliefs :Direction to decide and dispose of the pending appeals made before the Appellate Tribunal as soon as possible; andDirections to create a dedicated official website or digital platform for the SIR Tribunals to publish daily cause lists, orders, notifications, notices, rules, guidelines, circulars and other procedural directions. The plea seeks wider publicity about the platform through newspapers, including Bengali-language newspapers, and other news media.Increase the number of Tribunals for more affected districts like Murshidabad, Malda etc., preferably the Block-wise Appellate Tribunals and/or such additional Appellate Tribunals as may be necessary throughout the State of West Bengal, particularly in the District of Murshidabad.Appointment of adequate number of Judges to adjudicate the large volume of pending appeals arising out of the deletion of voters from the electoral rolls, and to provide the requisite administrative and...

West Bengal SIR | Can't Fix Timeline For Appellate Tribunals, Says Supreme Court; Seek Data On Appeal Disposals

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West Bengal SIR | Can't Fix Timeline For Appellate Tribunals, Says Supreme Court; Seek Data On Appeal Disposals

Debby Jain

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Debby Jain

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