A Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that around 1.16 crore individuals whose names appeared in the draft electoral roll had been served notices by Election Commission of India (ECI) officials, as per LiveLaw.
These notices sought verification of voter details after discrepancies were detected during the revision process.
The Court extended to Tamil Nadu the same safeguards it had laid down last week in a similar matter relating to the West Bengal SIR exercise.
Display of names and opportunity to respond
As part of its directions, the Bench ordered that the names of persons categorised under ‘logical discrepancies’ be displayed prominently at gram panchayat bhavans and other public places at the taluk level. This would allow affected voters to be informed and respond effectively, the apex court said, as per LiveLaw.Â
Individuals whose names appear on the list have been permitted to submit documents or objections either personally or through an authorised representative within 10 days.
The submissions are to be made before the Booth Level Officer (BLO), the Court directed.
Importantly, the list made public must also include a brief reason explaining the discrepancy in each case, the Bench said, as per LiveLaw.
Administrative and law and order measures
To ensure the smooth functioning of the SIR process, the Supreme Court instructed that adequate manpower be provided to both the ECI and the State Election Commission. Staff may be deployed at the level of BLOs or sub-divisional offices.
District collectors have been directed to strictly adhere to instructions issued by the ECI regarding staff deployment. Additionally, superintendents of police across all districts have been asked to ensure that no law and order issues arise at the designated locations, as per LiveLaw.
The Court also observed that it expects the ECI to follow the same procedure in other states where the SIR exercise is currently underway.
