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Supreme Court On SIR and BLO Safety: The Supreme Court has ordered to implement the security and administrative instructions of BLOs engaged in the SIR process in the entire country. However, the Commission said that if state police protection is not provided then central forces can be deployed. The next hearing of the case will be on 17th. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission.
The Supreme Court has given major instructions regarding the BLOs engaged in SIR work. The apex court has said that all the instructions related to BLO will be applicable in the entire country. The Supreme Court clarified that in the petitions challenging the SIR process, the security and administrative instructions of BLOs will be applicable to the entire country and are not limited to West Bengal only. The CJI bench hearing the case said that the affected employee will be at liberty to contact the State Election Commission and the District Election Officer of the district. District officials will ensure that the state government takes necessary compliance. These instructions were given during the hearing in the Supreme Court on the petitions challenging the SIR process in West Bengal.
Concern over security of BLO
Chief Justice Surya Kant said that threats being received by BLOs at the ground level can become a serious issue. Their security cannot be ignored. The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Election Commission. He said that the instructions related to BLO will be applicable across the country. During this hearing, the Election Commission said that the security of BLOs depends on the cooperation of the state police. If needed, central forces can be deployed. Affected employees will be able to contact the State ECI and District Election Officer for security. The next hearing of cases related to voter enrollment and citizenship will be held on 17th.
Debate on State vs ECI
Justice Jayanandan Bagchi said that except one FIR, there is no concrete example of any violence on record. Most of the claims are based on historical context. ECI has only one FIR. On this, the Election Commission’s lawyer said that the police is under the control of the state government. State cooperation is essential for the security of BLO. If the state does not relent, we will have to call central forces.
Discussion on security and pressure of BLOs
Justice Bagchi said that this is not a desk job. BLO has to do door-to-door verification and upload the data. This is the pressure, that is why we had asked to increase the number of BLOs. We do not want narratives, we just want to ensure a hassle-free SIR process at the ground level. CJI said that we are not interested in political allegations and counter-allegations. We have only said that BLOs held for personal reasons should be released. The biggest issue is whether BLOs are getting security or not.
