Bengal SIR: 'Will seek report from Calcutta HC Chief Justice': Supreme Court on appellate tribunals' functioning

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it would seek a report from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court as a counsel claimed that the appellate tribunals are not functioning as per the top court's order.

The appellate tribunals were constituted to hear appeals filed against exclusions/inclusions in the electoral rolls of West Bengal after the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise carried out by the Election Commission.

Senior advocate Devadatt Kamat mentioned the matter a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, insisting that the appellate tribunals were not allowing lawyers to represent parties and are not accepting physical applications.

“Lawyers have not been allowed. They only take internet or computer-based applications,” he said.

The bench observed that this is not correct.

Kamat insisted that citizens are not being allowed to represent themselves.

“This is a professional strategy from this side. Every day you people, one after the other,” the CJI said.

Kamat said he was making a request regarding an application and urged the bench to list the matter.

The bench said it would look into the matter.

Kamat said there are newspaper reports regarding the non-functioning of the appellate tribunals, and they are not functioning despite the apex court's orders.

“This court's orders are not being followed. That is my respectful submission,” he said.

“We will get a report from the chief justice today itself,” the CJI said.

Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29, and votes will be counted on May 4.

On April 13, the apex court had ordered the Election Commission to issue a supplementary revised electoral roll for the electors whose claims against alleged wrongful exclusion were favourably decided by April 21 and April 27, just ahead of two phase Assembly polls in West Bengal.