Former Calcutta High Court judge Biswajit Basu has resigned from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) tribunal, marking the fourth departure of a judge from the body. According to court officials who requested anonymity, Justice Basu submitted his resignation to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Ravindra Vithalrao Ghuge, on Saturday, citing personal reasons for his exit.
The SIR tribunals were established following a directive from the Supreme Court on March 10 to address widespread grievances regarding the deletion of names from West Bengal’s electoral rolls. Prior to the commencement of the revision process, the state had a voter base of approximately 76.6 million people. The revision process eventually led to the removal of around 9.1 million names from the rolls. This figure includes an initial deletion of 6.3 million names, followed by the disqualification of an additional 2.7 million voters who were declared ineligible after formal adjudication.
To manage the significant volume of complaints, nineteen former high court and district judges were appointed to head these appellate tribunals. The panel was tasked with reviewing approximately six million cases involving voters whose names had been flagged due to "logical discrepancies," such as issues related to age mismatches or progeny-linking. The tribunal's work has been a point of significant contention in the state's political landscape.
Justice Basu’s resignation follows a pattern of departures from the tribunal. Former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam was the first to resign, citing family-related issues. He was subsequently followed by former Justice Ranjit Kumar Bagh. More recently, former High Court judge Indrajit Chatterjee stepped down approximately 20 days ago. According to the same court official, Justice Chatterjee had cited difficulties in commuting more than 20 kilometers daily from his Salt Lake residence to the tribunal office located in the South 24 Parganas district.
The backdrop to these developments involves a broader environment of administrative and legal scrutiny within the state. On June 1, the West Bengal cabinet, led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, formed a separate commission chaired by the retired judge Biswajit Basu. This commission was mandated to investigate institutional corruption, extortion, recruitment irregularities, and bribery across various state departments spanning the period from 2011 to May 2026. This probe has already initiated investigations into several former ministers associated with the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which lost power to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in May of this year.
The efficacy of the SIR tribunals has faced public questioning as the number of presiding judges dwindles. Reacting to the latest resignation, Baiswanor Chatterjee, a lawyer and leader of the All India Trinamool Congress, remarked on the limited progress made by the body. "The empanelled judges have heard very few appeals so far. What is the use of this," he questioned.
The departure of Justice Basu comes at a time when the legal and administrative machinery in West Bengal remains heavily focused on the integrity of the electoral process and the investigation of past government conduct. As the tribunal continues to lose senior members, questions remain regarding the future timeline and the capacity of the remaining panel to process the millions of cases currently under review. The Chief Justice's office has not yet provided further details on potential replacements for the vacancies created by the four recent resignations.
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