The Supreme Court docket on Thursday (April 2, 2026) mentioned the gheraoing of seven judicial officers with out meals or water for greater than 9 hours at a authorities workplace in West Bengal’s Malda district reportedly after a number of voters had been struck off the electoral roll within the Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) was not solely a “brazen try” to browbeat the officers however amounted to a problem to the authority of the highest courtroom.
A whole lot of judicial officers have been deployed on the premise of a Supreme Court docket order to perform as Election Registration Officers and adjudicate objections raised by voters excluded from the electoral roll through the Particular Intensive Revision (SIR) forward of the Meeting election scheduled on April 23 and 29.
Noting that three of the judicial officers had been girls, the courtroom mentioned the incident uncovered the “full failure of the civil and police administration within the State of West Bengal”.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, requested what the political leaders had been doing throughout all these hours of captivity – might they not have gone to the spot and calmed down the state of affairs.
A shocked apex courtroom identified that the judicial officers had been pelted with stones as they had been lastly rescued and led out by the police after being detained from 3.30 p.m. on April 1 until effectively previous midnight.
“This was not a routine incident. It was ex facie a calculated, well-planned and deliberate transfer to demoralise the judicial officers and affect the continued strategy of adjudication of objections. We won’t enable anybody to intrude and take legislation into their palms by inflicting concern within the minds of judicial officers. This undoubtedly quantities to legal contempt,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, noticed.
The Chief Justice mentioned he had by no means seen such a “politically polarised State like West Bengal”.
“You might be forcing us to say. Sadly in your State, every considered one of you speaks a political language… I’ve by no means seen such a politically polarised State. Even in courtroom orders, the politics is mirrored… We handed the order deploying judicial officers as a result of we thought we might have a impartial construction for the adjudication of objections, and that is how persons are behaving? Do you assume we’re not conscious who’re the miscreants behind this incident? I used to be monitoring occasions until 2 a.m.,” Chief Justice Kant addressed the West Bengal facet.
Justice Joymalya Bagchi, on the Bench, mentioned political leaders who kind a part of the manager of the State and leaders within the Opposition should condemn the incident in a single voice. “The orders of the judicial officers are deemed to be the orders of this courtroom. This incident sought to scuttle the whole effort, discourage judicial officers… It quantities to contempt of courtroom,” Justice Bagchi remarked.
The courtroom directed the Election Fee (EC) to assign the Central Bureau of Investigation or Nationwide Investigation Company, through the course of the day, with the duty to probe the incident. It directed the Fee to requisition Central forces to guard the life, liberty and households of the judicial officers concerned in West Bengal SIR.
The Bench narrated that the Registrar Basic of the Calcutta Excessive Court docket had knowledgeable the native police and civil administration for instant backup on studying in regards to the gherao. “The matter was met with conspicuous inertia till roughly 8:30 p.m.,” it mentioned. The official had then contacted the Residence Secretary, the Director Basic of Police (DGP) and the Chief Justice of the Excessive Court docket. “Although assurance of early motion was given, no tangible motion was taken,” the courtroom said.
Lastly, the Excessive Court docket Chief Justice needed to intervene personally, following which the Residence Secretary and the DGP had turned up at his residence at midnight.
Chief Justice Kant mentioned the Excessive Court docket Chief Justice, in his letter to the apex courtroom, had strongly deprecated the delay on the a part of the police and the civil administration. The apex courtroom mentioned the Chief Secretary, Residence Secretary, DGP, District Collector and Superintendent of Police had acted in a “extremely deplorable” method through the hours of disaster.
The Bench directed the DGP, Malda District Justice of the Peace and the Superintendent of Police to point out trigger why appropriate motion shouldn’t be taken towards them. The Bench scheduled the case for listening to on April 6.
“They’ve to put earlier than this courtroom causes for failing to take any efficient measures to safe the protection of the judicial officers,” the courtroom ordered.
Senior advocates Kalyan Bandhopadhyay, Menaka Guruswamy and Gopal Sankaranarayanan, variously representing the State authorities and the ruling Trinamool Congress leaders, mentioned the Chief Secretary and DGP had been the ballot physique’s personal appointments in March.
Senior advocate Dama Seshadiri Naidu, showing for the Fee, mentioned the judicial officers had been held “hostage”. “That is jungle raj,” he exclaimed.
“It is a failure on the a part of the EC. The EC had shifted these officers… These are your officers who didn’t take the Chief Justice’s calls,” Mr. Bandhopadhyay countered.
The courtroom additional directed that no more than 5 individuals can be allowed to assemble at adjudication centres.
Printed – April 02, 2026 11:41 am IST
