West Bengal challenges ECI training module for judicial officers; Supreme Court says no cause for concern

The West Bengal government has objected before the Supreme Court of India to a training module prepared by the Election Commission of India for judicial officers supervising the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the State.

Appearing for the State, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argued that the Commission’s training material appeared to prescribe how judicial officers should evaluate claims and objections during the voter list revision. He contended that this could conflict with earlier directions of the Court, which had clarified that the procedure for the exercise would be guided under the supervision of the Chief Justice of the relevant High Court. According to the State, the module risked influencing how documents and eligibility criteria are assessed.

The bench of the Supreme Court, however, expressed confidence in the independence of the judicial officers tasked with overseeing the process. The Court observed that there was no basis to assume that trained judicial officers would surrender their discretion merely because they were given orientation materials. It emphasized that judges are capable of making their own determinations in accordance with the law and prior court orders.

The Court also noted that since handling claims and objections in an electoral roll revision is not part of the routine judicial docket, a degree of procedural training cannot automatically be viewed with suspicion. If any aspect of the module were found to contradict judicial directions, appropriate remedies could be sought through proper legal channels.

The Supreme Court declined to treat the State’s objections as grounds for intervention at this stage, signaling that there was no immediate cause for alarm. The revision exercise, it indicated, should proceed, with judicial officers expected to act independently and in line with the Court’s earlier rulings.