Kolkata: Justice Indrajit Chatterjee, a retired Calcutta High Court judge, has offered to leave the appellate tribunal that hears appeals from West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, effective November 2. He heads the appellate tribunal for Murshidabad district, tribunal number 11.
He has written to Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge and West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer Neelam Meena. His reason is the daily journey between his home in Salt Lake and the tribunal at Joka.
The reported distance varies. He has said the trip is 70 to 80 km and takes three to four hours each day. Another report puts the daily travel at more than 60 km. In his words, “It is difficult to continue under such circumstances.”
He has also said he could carry on if the Election Commission arranged for him to work from home.
The Election Commission formed 19 SIR tribunals in West Bengal to hear appeals over names added to or removed from the rolls. In Murshidabad, Chatterjee’s tribunal deleted more than 4.5 lakh names over alleged logical discrepancies. He is the second former Calcutta High Court judge to step down from an SIR tribunal.
His offer comes while a large number of SIR-related appeals are still pending before the tribunals. One report says he has not presented his decision as a stand for or against the SIR exercise.
This is an offer to resign, and no report I found says it has been accepted. Whether it is accepted, and who takes over the Murshidabad appeals, will decide how the pending cases move. This post will be updated when there is word from the High Court or the Election Commission.
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