Politics · India · 1 day ago
Fourth retired judge resigns from West Bengal voter appeals tribunals
Retired judge Biswajit Basu has resigned from a tribunal hearing voter appeals in West Bengal, citing personal reasons.
He is the fourth of 19 retired judges to step down from the panels set up for the state.
The tribunals were formed on a Supreme Court order to review challenges to voter-list changes.
The revision removed nearly 9.1 million names from the electoral rolls, and many affected voters have appealed.
An Election Commission official said resignations by two judges assigned to Murshidabad could stall appeals from the district, where many voters were excluded.
The tribunals face a large backlog, and Basu had said that resolving hundreds of thousands of cases would be difficult.
The sources do not say who will replace Basu or when the appeals will be cleared.
Retired Calcutta High Court judge Biswajit Basu has resigned from a tribunal hearing appeals over West Bengal’s voter-roll revision, becoming the fourth retired judge to step down.
Basu cited personal reasons in a letter to the Calcutta High Court chief justice.
The tribunals were set up to hear appeals by voters whose names were removed during the Special Intensive Revision, or SIR.
An Election Commission official said the departures of Basu and another judge could stall appeals from Murshidabad district.
The SIR removed around 9.1 million names from West Bengal’s electoral rolls, according to Hindustan Times.
- Who
- Retired Calcutta High Court judge Biswajit Basu resigned. He is the fourth retired judge to leave the tribunals.
- What
- He stepped down from a West Bengal tribunal hearing appeals over the Special Intensive Revision of voter rolls.
- When
- He submitted his resignation on Friday, according to the Times of India; Hindustan Times reported it on Saturday.
- Where
- West Bengal. Basu’s letter was sent to the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.
- Why
- Basu cited personal reasons.
All India Trinamool Congress leader Baiswanor Chatterjee
West Bengal BJP spokesperson Sayantan Basu
Purpose of the tribunal
All India Trinamool Congress leader Baiswanor Chatterjee
The empanelled judges have heard very few appeals, raising doubts about the tribunal’s usefulness.
West Bengal BJP spokesperson Sayantan Basu
There is no reason to read anything into the resignation; Basu may be unable to spare time because he is heading an inquiry commission.
The Supreme Court directed the formation of appellate tribunals in West Bengal to address grievances over the SIR.
Tribunal member TS Sivagnanam issued an order directing the Election Commission to restore a Congress candidate’s name.
Retired judge Indrajit Chatterjee resigned, citing difficulty travelling to the tribunal.
Basu sent his resignation letter to the Calcutta High Court chief justice, citing personal reasons.
- Judges appointed
- 19 retired judges
- Judges who have resigned
- 4, including Biswajit Basu
- Names removed from rolls
- Around 9.1 million
- Tribunals’ caseload
- Around 6 million cases
- District affected
- Murshidabad
2 sources
What people are saying
The empanelled judges have heard very few appeals so far. What is the use of this tribunal?
There is no reason to read anything into this. Justice Basu is heading the inquiry commission which is probing crucial corruption cases. Probably he is not being able to spare time.
With both judges stepping down within a month, the disposal of appeals from Murshidabad voters has effectively come to a standstill, raising questions over the tribunal's ability to clear the backlog.
Resolving lakhs of cases in this manner is a little difficult. Since this has been done on the directions of the Supreme Court, it has to be carried out in this manner.