Bengal SIR Tribunal Judge Offers To Resign Over 'Long Commute', Seeks WFH

Retired Calcutta High Court judge Indrajit Chatterjee on Thursday offered to quit as the head of an SIR tribunal, citing a daily commute of over 60 km, but said he would continue if allowed to work from home or closer to his residence.

Chatterjee heads the SIR tribunal for Murshidabad district, where more than 4.5 lakh names of electors were deleted over alleged logical discrepancies.

"I cited the long distance of over 27 km from my Salt Lake residence to the tribunal at Joka in South 24 Parganas district, bad roads and traffic jams in the letter," the septuagenarian retired judge told PTI.

Chatterjee sent a letter to the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, offering to resign as the head of the tribunal with effect from November 2.

"I have asked for the option of working from home or an office within a 10 to 12 km radius of my residence," he said.

Chatterjee sent the letter by email and speed post last week and requested a response within three weeks.

The Election Commission constituted 19 tribunals to hear appeals relating to the inclusion and exclusion of names from the electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections.

He retired as a judge of Calcutta High Court in 2017, upon attaining the superannuation age of 62 years.

Earlier, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court T S Sivagnanam resigned as the head of one of the SIR tribunals set up for West Bengal.

More than 22 lakh of the 27.16 lakh electors deleted during the West Bengal SIR have appealed for restoration, according to figures submitted by the EC to the Supreme Court.

The poll panel has said the adjudication process involved discrepancies identified in electoral rolls, while the judicial officers ultimately ordered the deletion of 27.16 lakh names.

The Supreme Court subsequently directed the setting up of appellate tribunals to hear challenges against the deletions.

With allegations of discontent emerging within the three-member Election Commission, a nationwide political row has erupted over the SIR process.

Following a meeting of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the EC stated on September 26 that last year's June 24 order for the nationwide SIR, as well as subsequent schedules, had the unanimous approval of all three commissioners.

The clarification came amid a controversy triggered by a report in The Indian Express that Sandhu and Joshi had recorded objections to various decisions and orders on at least 14 occasions over 10 months. 

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