Supreme Court Orders Judicial Oversight of West Bengal Electoral Rolls

The India===Supreme Court of India issued an unprecedented order directing the deployment of serving and retired judicial officers to oversee the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in India===West Bengal. This intervention comes amidst a 'trust deficit' and 'unfortunate blame game' between the India===West Bengal government and the India===Election Commission of India (ECI), which had stalled the SIR exercise. The India===Supreme Court of India noted the India===West Bengal government's failure to provide adequate Grade A officers for the revision process and allegations of intimidation faced by ECI officials. The order aims to ensure fairness and timely completion of the electoral roll revision, with the India===Calcutta High Court's Chief Justice requested to provide judicial officers. The India===Supreme Court of India also permitted the India===Election Commission of India to publish a draft voter list by February 28, with supplementary lists to follow.