No clarity on hearing process of tribunals: SIR leaves voters in lurch in West Bengal | India News
KOLKATA: None of the petitioners who approached the Appellate Tribunal against deletion of SIR or their lawyers seem to have any clarity on the process to be followed if they want to return to the electoral roll.Haridebpur resident Aloke Bose Joker Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee visited the National Institute of Water and Sanitation on two consecutive days — Sunday and Monday — in the hope that the tribunal would hear his case that his last name was wrongly recorded as ‘Bose’ leading to deletion. But till now there has been no communication of hearing.
“I contacted my BLO, he doesn’t know. Neighbors – many – who have been deleted are contacting us about whether they are being called to the hearing. We don’t know if we will be heard or if our fate will depend on the same absurd logic that wiped us out in the first place,” Basu said.Raghunath Chakraborty, a lawyer who has been extensively providing legal advice to deleted voters in Howrah, said, “They may have websites where hearing dates can be listed.” Lawyers like Chakraborty and advocate Saikat Thakurta are helping people from weaker economic backgrounds to file appeals and represent them.As 16 tribunals began functioning on Monday, as per Chief Justice Sujoy Paul’s letter to the SC, the deleted electors and their lawyers are confused about how they will be called for hearings and where they can see the orders passed by these tribunals.During the April 6 hearing in the SC, CJI Surya Kant, referring to CJ Paul’s letter, noted that a retired Chief Justice had identified the issue regarding the procedure of granting ‘personal hearing’ to aggrieved parties.“There is no clarity on how the petitioner will be called. Will it be a personal hearing or the tribunal is just going to go through the documents already submitted. Interestingly, the petitioner now also knows which documents will be given to the tribunal,” said Calcutta High Court advocate Firdous Samim.He has the experience of appearing for two candidates of Congress and Aam Janata Unyaan Party (AJUP) – Motab Sheikh from Farakka and Kechabuddin Sheikh from Kaliganj respectively.In Motab’s case, Samim physically appeared at the court building where the documents were supplied and subsequently Motab’s name was restored, enabling him to stand as a candidate. Citing the SC order dated September 8, 2025, former Justice TS Sivagnam observed that Aadhaar card can be accepted as a supporting document. Although it is not proof of citizenship, it is “one of the documents enumerated for the purpose of establishing a person’s identity”.Meanwhile, Samim was given a conference call link in Kechabuddin’s case and presented his client’s case. Kechabuddin was also present during the hearing. Ultimately, his name was also ordered to be included as it was found that the documents provided clearly showed that he was a permanent resident of Hat Gobindpur village in Nadia. Samim suggested that there could be an online platform where the order is uploaded because even in the petition filed in the SC on Monday, the lawyer had mentioned Motab’s case as a priority. Although CJ Sujoy Paul constituted a three-member panel comprising former CJ TS Sivagnam, Justice Pradeepta Roy and Justice Pranab Kumar Deb after the April 7 SC order to frame the SOP, the deleted selectors remain confused as to how they will be called for hearing. They now have an ‘Application Number’ which was sent via SMS to their registered mobile.
