SC order on judicial officers for SIR a historic victory, says TMC

Kolkata: Trinamool on Friday said the Supreme Court's order supplanting judicial officers over EC-appointed officers to hear SIR's logical discrepancy cases was a "historic victory".

The party also claimed that the apex court order vindicated its persistent claims that logical discrepancy, which forced lakhs of people to stand in queues for SIR hearings, was only a guise to harass and intimidate genuine voters and strike them off voter rolls.


Trinamool maintained that the order was a "no-trust vote against the EC".


In a post on X, the party said: "This constitutes a scathing indictment of a constitutional body that has failed in the faithful discharge of its duties. It is also a powerful vindication of our principled fight to safeguard the rights of the people and uphold the integrity of the democratic process."

TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said: "The SC directed that judicial officers, or those appointed by the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice, will decide logical discrepancy cases. This is a direct indictment of the EC. Even the topmost court of the land appears convinced that the poll body is not neutral, nor competent, after saddling people with unjustifiable hearing notices. This was a guise only to exclude voters, not include them."

"This also manifests CM Mamata Banerjee's fight for the people. This is the way such BJP-driven political agendas need to be fought," he added.

Ghosh said both TMC and the CM listed out, point-wise in court how logical discrepancy was being used to make genuine voters stand in line in lakhs. "Issues as simple as surname spellings led thousands to stand in a queue to explain it. The apex court's Friday order only vindicates what we as a party — and chief minister Banerjee — always said. This is nothing short of a no-confidence vote against the EC, and a clear rap that the EC is not doing its work properly," Ghosh said.

Four-time TMC Lok Sabha member and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee said the SC order demolished the belief of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar that only he would have say in SIR-related matters.

"The CEC used to think that he was the only one who knew everything. The SC order proved that wrong. Now, the decision of judicial officers, to be appointed by Calcutta High Court to oversee the adjudication of the SIR exercise, will be final. This is a unique order, and even I did not expect such an unprecedented order," Banerjee said.

Ghosh, however, chose to overlook the SC's strong law and order remarks on the Bengal govt. "There are multiple facets to the hearing. The EC order makes it clear that judicial officers — not the EC – will decide logical discrepancy cases. The other aspects of the order will be studied by legal experts. Those who miss the main point will try to harp on the others. We will speak on them at the appropriate time."

Asked about the repeated focus of the EC on name and age mismatches, Ghosh argued: "Some are bound to happen if you rush through a process that takes 2 years to complete." Responding on whether this no-trust with the EC will have a bearing on polls, he added: "We will think about it when it comes to that. Our first focus now is that no genuine voter is left out."