The Supreme Court today took serious note of an incident in West Bengal’s Malda district where judicial officers engaged in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process were gheraoed and confined for several hours by a mob, describing the episode as deeply disturbing and an affront to judicial authority.
Referring to media reports published in The Telegraph, the Court observed that the incident reflected “audacity” and “brazenness” and warned that such acts could “scuttle the entire effort” of the ongoing electoral revision exercise while demoralising judicial officers. The Bench emphasised that the safety and confidence of judicial officers is essential for the completion of the process and underscored that those responsible for maintaining law and order must act with greater vigilance.
During the hearing, it was noted that 7 judicial officers, including 3 women, were held inside an office for hours and were released only late at night following intervention by the Chief Justice and Senior Judges of the Calcutta High Court. The Court expressed concern that such incidents amount to a direct challenge to the authority of the judiciary and cannot be tolerated in a system governed by the rule of law.
The Court also indicated dissatisfaction with the response of the state administration, highlighting lapses in ensuring timely protection and coordination, and stressed that both State and Union authorities must act to safeguard judicial functioning.
The Court has issued the following direction to safeguard the judicial officers deployed for SIR process in West Bengal:
• Deployment of adequate central paramilitary forces at all SIR adjudication centres
• Provision of security at places of stay of judicial officers, including hotels etc.
• Directions to register criminal cases against those involved in the incident
• Requirement for personal affidavits from senior officials (Collector, SSP, etc.) explaining lapses
• Restriction on crowd presence, only 3-5 persons allowed inside centres at a time
• Filing of a compliance report before the Court
Appearances
SG Tushar Mehta M Kishore, AGWB
Sr advs Kapil Sibal, Menaka Guruswamy, Kalyan Bandopadhyay, Syam Divan
Sr Adv Dama Seshadri Naidu