What happened in Malda, West Bengal? 7 election observers held hostage for 9 hours, even food and water stopped, police and administration silent, Supreme Court angry. Was this monitoring of the SIR process or some political conspiracy? Safety of judicial officers now in danger?
West Bengal Election: The incident of seven election observers being held hostage in Malda district of West Bengal on Wednesday created a stir in the entire country. The Supreme Court expressed displeasure over this incident and said that the officers were kept for nine hours, they were not even given food and water. The bench of CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi called it a deliberate and provocative incident and raised questions on the law and order of the state.
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What happened in Malda? Complete incident in 6 points
- 10 am: Protestors started gathering in small groups and started protesting near the BDO office.
- at 2 pm: 7 election observers reached BDO office, all were looking after the work related to SIR process.
- at 6 pm: Thousands of people gathered outside the office to protest against deletion of names from the voter list.
- at 7 pm: The protesters surrounded the office and did not allow the officers to come out.
- 11 pm: With the help of police, the officers were taken out, barricading was done on the way.
- 12 o’clock at night: Vehicles of judicial officers were vandalized and attacked with bricks.
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What steps did the Supreme Court take?
- Investigation by CBI/NIA: Investigation should be conducted by an independent agency like CBI or NIA, which will report directly to the court.
- Answer sought from officials: Notice issued to Chief Secretary, DGP, DM, SSP. Asked to appear by 6th April.
- Orders to increase security: Instructions to increase security where judges are working. Additional security at guest house and SIR workplace.
- Only 5 people allowed: SIR for crowd control at workplace.
- Instructions to the Election Commission: Deploy central security forces.
- Special security arrangements should be made where work is going on.
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The incident started at 10 am, when protesters gathered in small groups near the BDO office. Officials reached the office at 2 pm, but by evening thousands of people started protesting. At 11 pm the officers were taken out under police protection, but the vehicles were attacked with bricks.
What did the CJI bench say?
The Supreme Court bench – comprising CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi – said the incident was deliberate and provocative, and appeared to be aimed at demoralizing judicial officers and disrupting the electoral process. The court sought answers from the state Home Secretary, DGP, DM and SSP. Officials had reached BDO office in Malda. After this, thousands of local people gathered in SIR to protest against the deletion of names and surrounded the office. Due to inaction of police and administration, officials had to take strict measures to evacuate till late night. The officers were taken out under police protection, but their vehicles were also attacked on the way.
Controversy over deletion of name in SIR
Names of many people were removed during voter list update in more than 100 villages including Malda. Reasons included document irregularities, permanent absences and technical errors. In some villages the number of voters whose names were struck off ranged from 50 to 427.
political reactions
- TMC: Responsibility for the incident was placed on the Center and Amit Shah. Criticism of politics on law and order.
- BJP: Alleged there was a “reign of fear” in Bengal, linking the incident to Mamata Banerjee’s “Khela Hobe” statement.
Is SIR still going on?
Yes, 705 judicial officers in West Bengal are still engaged in the SIR process. The final voter list included 7.04 crore voters, out of which about 60 lakh names were placed under judicial scrutiny.