New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted an aspiring candidate of the Congress to approach the newly constituted appellate tribunal in Kolkata against the deletion of his name from the electoral roll following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was hearing the plea of Motab Shaikh, a probable Congress candidate, challenging his inclusion in the “adjudication deletion list”, which led to his removal from the voters’ list.
The local Congress leader has sought restoration of his name and permission to file nomination papers for the elections.
Taking note that the appellate tribunals, headed by former chief justices and judges of the high court, became functional from Thursday pursuant to its earlier directions in the main SIR matter, the bench directed Shaikh to avail the alternative remedy before the designated tribunal.
The CJI said Shaikh may approach the appellate tribunal headed by Justice T S Sivagnanam, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court.
The bench requested the presiding judge to consider and decide the appeal, with assistance from the Election Commission preferably by the forenoon of April 6, the next date of hearing in the main matter.
During the hearing, Justice Bagchi asked senior counsel for the EC to ensure expeditious resolution of the petitioner’s case and flagged that Shaikh possessed a passport, directing the poll body to examine the same.
It was also noted that the petitioner was a “mapped voter”.
Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the EC, said the petitioner could approach the tribunal and assured that the poll authority would assist in resolving any genuine grievance promptly. PTI SJK SJK KVK KVK
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