ECI extends SIR for Bengal polls by two weeks; final roll on February 28 | India News

New Delhi: The Election Commission on Tuesday extended the special intensive revision (SIR) deadline in West Bengal by two weeks. The list revision in TMC-ruled states will continue till February 21 and the list will be announced on February 28.In a letter to the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, the Election Commission said the decision was taken in compliance with the Supreme Court’s February 9 order.

Previously, the final voter list was scheduled to be announced on February 14, after the election.“…Based on the directions of the Supreme Court, the committee has decided to make the following changes in the ongoing SIR scheme in West Bengal,” the letter said, news agency PTI reported.Under the revised schedule, the notice hearing will end on February 14. Document review and case processing will be completed by February 21.Rationalization of polling stations will be completed by February 25 and inspection of health parameters will be completed by February 27. According to the letter shared by the CEO, the final electoral roll will be published on February 28.The Supreme Court on Monday said it would not under any circumstances allow the delay in the Special Intensification Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls of 12 states, but expressed readiness to accept suggestions to ensure that genuine voters are not left out.The CJI-led bench extended by a week the February 7 deadline for submission of documents by voters in the notification issued by the EC, including 136 crore voters categorized as “logical discrepancies”. It also asked the Bangladesh DGP to provide a personal affidavit on the EC’s allegations of attempts by TMC staff to sabotage the SIR. “We want the country to remember the law of the land,” it said.West Bengal CM’s hearing before CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice NV Anjaria Mamata Banerjee Passionately advocating for the termination of SIR, he was dissatisfied with the state government for not providing names of 8,500 Grade B cadre officers to the EC to assist the Election Revision Officer (ERO) and Assistant ERO in the extensive document verification work. The dissatisfaction had such an impact that the West Bengal government provided the list to the court within minutes and said it would verify the suitability of the officials.The court also dismissed concerns expressed by Banerjee’s lawyer Shyam Divan, who told the judge that the process adopted by the Election Commission would lead to mass exclusion of voters as 50 per cent of voters’ cases facing scrutiny for “logical discrepancies” were due to misspellings of names due to translation errors.“This is a speculative concern,” the bench said, adding that the Election Commission, by selecting suitable officials from among the 8,500 officers provided by the state government, will assist the ERO and eros in cases where notices are issued merely because of misspelling of names and help them include them in the voters’ list.