Bengal SIR tribunals could ‘take 21 years’ to clear appeals at current pace, remarks Calcutta HC

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday verbally observed that pending appeals against voter deletions under the Special Intensive Revision process “will take 21 years for all appeals to be disposed of” if the appellate tribunals function at the current pace, The Times of India reported.

The court made the verbal observation while hearing the case of a man whose application for an urgent passport was pending as his name was removed from the electoral rolls. The bench declined to direct the authorities to process the passport application, but told the appellate tribunal hearing special intensive revision cases to expedite the hearing of his appeal.

“Unless declared to be a citizen of India, you cannot be given passport,” Justice Kausik Chanda told the man, according to The Times of India.

The petitioner, Sirajul Shekh, a Cooch Behar resident, approached the court after his passport application had been put on hold during police verification after his Electoral Photo Identity Card number became invalid following the deletion of his name from the electoral roll.

He told the court he required a passport to seek medical treatment abroad for a gastrointestinal illness.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that a voter identity card is not a mandatory document under the 1967 Passports Act or the 1980 Passports Rules in...

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