Kolkata, Feb 22 (NationPress) Judicial officers assigned to resolve claims and objections arising from the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the election-bound West Bengal will be mandated to accept solely the 13 identity documents outlined by the Election Commission of India (ECI) for the verification of voters categorized under the “logical discrepancy” classification, officials stated on Sunday.

This directive was shared during a meeting in Kolkata between the judicial officers tasked with adjudication responsibilities and representatives from the Election Commission of India, where comprehensive procedural guidelines were laid out.

The “logical discrepancy” category encompasses situations where discrepancies were identified in family-tree data during the progeny mapping process, prompting officials to call the affected voters for hearings and require them to present any one of the 13 documents specified by the ECI as valid identity evidence to validate their eligibility for remaining on the electoral rolls.

This clarification carries weight amid objections raised by the ruling Trinamool Congress, which has challenged the limitation to only the 13 specified documents and has requested the inclusion of additional identity proofs issued by various state government agencies.

Officials indicated that, according to the current timeline, the final electoral roll in West Bengal will be published on February 28, excluding cases referred for judicial adjudication. Supplementary electoral rolls will follow once the adjudication process concludes.

Full-scale adjudication hearings are set to commence on Monday, involving roughly 150 session judges appointed for this task by the Calcutta High Court.

In total, about 250 judicial officers have been designated for the adjudication process, which will be overseen at the district level by three-member committees established under the guidance of the Calcutta High Court.

Each district-level supervisory committee will consist of the district judge, the district magistrate—who also acts as the district electoral officer—and the district superintendent of police.

Of the 250 judicial officers involved, around 100 are judges currently serving in courts under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, while the others are session judges from different courts.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court issued a notification on Saturday nullifying the leave of all judicial officers in West Bengal until March 9 and instructed those currently on leave to return to duty by Monday, excluding judicial officers on emergency medical leave.