New Delhi:- The Supreme Court has given a significant verdict in the ongoing dispute over the revision of voter lists ahead of the assembly elections in West Bengal. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant has ordered the Election Commission to display the names of 1.25 crore voters in gram panchayat buildings, block offices and ward offices, in whose details ‘logical errors’ have been found.
The Election Commission has found several errors while matching the 2002 voter list. These mainly include: difference in the names of parents, difference in age between the voter and his parents being less than 15 years or more than 50 years and mismatch in the details of the age of grandparents.
The court said that the people affected by this should be given a full opportunity to submit their documents or file objections.
TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen had alleged that the Election Commission was sending notices through WhatsApp without any written guidelines. Taking a strong stand on this, the Chief Justice said, "There is no question of running everything through WhatsApp, official circulars should be issued." The court said that more than one crore people are distressed, their mental stress needs to be understood. The Supreme Court has ordered the West Bengal government to provide sufficient staff to the Election Commission so that the verification of documents at the panchayat and block levels can be done smoothly. Along with this, the state DGP has been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining law and order in the state. It is worth mentioning that the final voter list is to be published on February 14 and the term of the current assembly ends on May 7.