Supreme Court Boosts Voter Roll Verification

The Supreme Court has allowed the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to appoint more judicial officers to handle the large number of claims and objections filed under

Around 80 lakh claims and objections have been received as part of the voter list revision. A Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant considered a letter from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court. In the letter, it was stated that 250 district judges are currently working on the verification process and would need nearly 80 days to complete the task.

Since there is limited time, the Supreme Court permitted the deployment of additional civil judges to speed up the work. The court also allowed the Calcutta High Court to request judicial officers of a similar rank from neighbouring states such as Jharkhand and Odisha to assist in the process.

The Supreme Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to bear the expenses of deploying officers from these two states. This includes travel, stay, and other related costs.

The court further allowed the Election Commission to publish the final electoral roll on February 28. However, it clarified that supplementary voter lists can be issued later as the verification process continues.

Using its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court stated that eligible voters identified during the ongoing verification can be included in supplementary rolls. These supplementary lists will be treated as part of the final electoral roll.

The decision is aimed at ensuring that the voter list revision process is completed efficiently and fairly, without leaving out any eligible voters.