The Supreme Court on Monday declined an urgent hearing of the West Bengal SIR matter ahead of the upcoming Rejinagar and Nandigram by-elections. The plea was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s bench for an urgent hearing. However, while turning down the petition, the bench said the matter would be heard on October 5.
Voters in Rejinagar and Nandigram who had applied before the tribunal had been hoping to get some relief from the top court on Monday. Tribunals comprising retired judges were constituted under the Supreme Court’s directive to resolve cases filed over factual discrepancies. Many excluded voters submitted applications claiming to be genuine voters. numerous cases remain pending While some applications have been settled.
The by-elections are scheduled to take place on October 6. The Election Commission of India said 6,643 appeals were filed before the tribunal by Nandigram voters, and 89 of them have been restored to the voter list, according to an affidavit filed before the top court on September 16. In the Rejinagar constituency, out of 12,452 appeals submitted, only four have so far been restored to the rolls. Objections were raised regarding over 6 million names during the SIR process in West Bengal.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, however, said, “These are just bye-elections,” and added that the Court would hear the matter on October 5.
