New Delhi. In some states, many BLOs doing Special Intensive Verification (SIR) work of voters died suddenly in the past and many committed suicide. Expressing concern over the death of these BLOs, the Supreme Court has given several instructions to provide relief. During the hearing on SIR, senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan told the bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justice Jaimalya Bagchi that he had information about 35 to 40 BLOs losing their lives. Expressing concern over this, CJI Surya Kant said that the SIR proceedings are a legitimate process. This has to be completed. The CJI said that if there is shortage of staff somewhere, it is the responsibility of the state government.
CJI Surya Kant’s bench is hearing the SIR.
A bench headed by CJI Surya Kant directed the governments and election commissions of 9 SIR states and 3 union territories to deploy additional staff to reduce the pressure on BLOs. The Supreme Court bench said that if any BLO is not able to do SIR due to personal reasons, then after giving proper reason, the Election Commission should consider giving relief to him and someone else should be appointed in place of that BLO. The Supreme Court bench also said that if relief is not received, BLOs can also approach the concerned court. The Supreme Court said that the statutory duty assigned by the Election Commission cannot be avoided. To fulfill these responsibilities, deputed government servants are duty bound.
There was no incident of sudden death or suicide of any BLO during SIR in Bihar, but in the second phase of SIR, many BLOs in Bengal and UP either committed suicide or died suddenly. The families of these BLOs allege that they were under a lot of pressure and were facing difficulty in completing the SIR. The opposition has also raised the issue of BLO’s death and has raised questions on the Election Commission. At the same time, the Election Commission has extended the deadline for SIR by 7 days to reduce the pressure on BLOs. Earlier SIR was to end on December 4. Now SIR will end on December 11 and the draft voter list will be published on December 19.
