New Delhi: The Supreme Court Thursday directed the Election Commission of India to deploy central security forces in areas of West Bengal where judicial officers are adjudicating claims and objections under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. This comes a day after villagers in the poll-bound state’s Malda district gheraoed seven judicial officers over the deletions in the voter list.
The judicial officers, including three women, were reportedly gheraoed by villagers in Malda district’s Kaliachak area at around 3.30 pm Wednesday, when they were conducting hearings on SIR-related claims. No action was allegedly taken for the next five hours.
The top court received a communication letter from the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice and a news report from The Telegraph.
A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M. Pancholi expressed disappointment at the incident, especially the part in the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice’s letter saying that the Chief Secretary (deployed by the ECI) couldn’t be contacted and his number was not available for WhatsApp messages as well.
“This incident is a brazen attempt not only to browbeat judicial officers but also challenges the authority of this court. It was not a routine incident but appears to be a calculated, motivated move to demoralise the judicial officers and stop the ongoing process of adjudicating objections in left-out cases,” said the CJI while dictating the order.
“We will not allow anyone to interfere and take the law into their hands in order to create a psychological attack on minds of judicial officers and constitute criminal contempt. This is also an abdication of duty by the West Bengal government, and the officers need to furnish reasons why, even after being informed, did the officers not ensure safe evacuation of the officers.”
The top court issued show-cause notices to the chief secretary, home secretary and director general of police (DGP), among other officials, over their alleged inaction.
It also directed the home secretary, DGP, district magistrate and all police officials to ensure that not more than two or three persons are allowed to enter the premises where objections are being filed or when a hearing takes place, and not more than five shall be allowed to assemble.
If any judicial officer has any apprehension regarding a threat, the threat perception is to be immediately assessed, and immediate measures are to be taken, said the CJI.
Orally observing a complete breakdown of law and order during the hearings, the court ordered the NIA or CBI to probe the incident against the judicial officers in Malda.
The hearing also witnessed arguments with political overtones, with senior advocates Kapil Sibal, Menaka Guruswamy (also a TMC MP) and Gopal Sankarnarayanan emphasising the inadequacy of the ECI to maintain law and order.
ECI counsel Dema S. Naidu and Solicitor General Tushar Mehta noted that the state police cannot be entrusted with the security of judicial officers.
The CJI said, “Unfortunately, in your state, each one speaks political language, and this is the most polarised state. You are forcing us to make observations. Do you think we are not aware of who are the miscreants?”
He also said that he was monitoring the situation until 2 am.
When the ECI counsel said that the poll panel wasn’t involved, Justice Bagchi said that the “top most civil servant (Chief Secretary) was contacted by the chief justice of high court”, which did not make a good case.
In the order, the court mentioned that during Wednesday’s incident, it was informed, the situation was “so dire that even food and water were not permitted to be supplied to the judicial officers”.
Plus, “shockingly, when the judicial officers were released around midnight and were returning to their places of stay, their vehicles were pelted with stones and attacked with bamboo sticks and bricks.” In this light, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court “strongly deprecated the delay on the part of the civil and police administration in taking appropriate action”.
“This incident certainly cannot be construed to be a routine occurrence and, ex facie, appears to be a calculated, well-planned and deliberate act intended to demoralise judicial officers and obstruct the ongoing process of adjudication of objections in the remaining cases,” the order said, noting that it had no hesitation in observing that it will not permit any person to take the law into their own hands so as to create “a climate of psychological fear in the minds of judicial officers who are discharging their duties”—extending criminal contempt notices to the chief secretary, home secretary, DGP, collector and superintendent of police.
Stating that it was incumbent upon the state administration to immediately inform the ECI and seek deployment of central forces, wherever necessary, to ensure the safety of the judicial officers, it noted how this reflects “a complete failure on the part of the civil and police administration, in so far as the law and order situation in Maldah district is concerned.”
In Sagardighi, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee blamed the ECI for ‘failing to protect’ judicial officers engaged in the SIR exercise in Malda district.
Claiming that the EC posted its own officers in civil and police administration, Mamata accused the poll body of having “totally failed to control law and order”. “All my powers have been taken away, I have never seen such an Election Commission,” she said.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)
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