The Supreme Court said Thursday that Booth Level Officers assigned to carry out Special Intensive Revision (SIR) cannot shirk their duty, but added that state governments are obligated to provide substitutes if BLOs are overworked.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant made the remarks while hearing a petition filed by actor Joseph Vijay’s party Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK), seeking payment of compensation for BLOs who have taken their lives, “on account of unreasonable workloads, and mental/physical/emotional stresses faced by them to complete the distribution and processing of enumeration forms as part of the SIR exercise.”
The application was filed through Advocate Yash S Vijay.
“There is an obligation on the part of the employee. They cannot run away from that. There are officers who go from one state to another for conducting elections…There may be employees who are unwell or have other difficulties. Why should they be recruited? The state must deal with it… The state government is obligated to provide substitutes for them,” CJI Surya Kant presiding over a two-judge bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, said.
In its order, the court issued directions “in case they (BLOs) are facing hardships, including they being overburdened with their routine duties as well as the additional duties assigned by the ECI”.
“The state governments may consider the desirability of deputing additional staff at the disposal of the Election Commission of India so that the working hours can be proportionately reduced. Wherever any employee has any specific reasons for seeking exemption from the duty assigned by ECI, the competent authority of the state government may consider such requests on a case-to-case basis and replace such person with another employee.”
The court said this “however…shall not be construed or understood as if they can withdraw the employees who have been assigned the duty if their substitutes are not provided”. “In other words, the State shall be obligated to deploy the requisite work force at the disposal of the ECI, though the strength of such employees can be increased…”.
‘A human question’
Appearing for the applicant, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan said once an employee is drafted for the SIR work, he or she cannot withdraw. “Right now, it’s not a voluntary exercise. The minute you are recruited, you can’t say no, you can’t withdraw, that’s not permitted.”
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Sankaranarayanan said under Section 32 of The Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Election Commission is empowered to lodge First Information Reports (FIRs) against BLOs over alleged breach of official duty in connection with the preparation, etc, of electoral rolls. He urged the court to restrain the poll body from such harsh criminal action or give them a substitute.
The senior counsel said that it is a human question. Illustrating this, he cited the case of a BLO who he said could not take granted leave for his wedding, and eventually ended his life. “There are many like him. They work in the mornings, they finish their teaching jobs, then they are supposed to go and meet these targets, till 3 am uploading it, without network…”, he submitted.
‘Let state governments explain’
CJI Surya Kant pointed out that as the personnel are provided by the state government, the Commission will have to talk to the state government. “So, let’s call upon the states. Why can’t they provide more employees…?” he asked.
On the request that there should be no criminal action, CJI Kant said, “If the employee is assigned for the work, they can’t say they won’t work”. He pointed out that such FIRs were not being lodged for the first time, and added that the court can ask the governments where employees are facing problems, and to replace them.
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When Sankaranarayanan said that FIRs had been lodged against BLOs in certain states, Justice Bagchi pointed out that in West Bengal, one FIR was registered against the ECI by the husband of a woman BLO. “Blame and counter-blame,” added Justice Bagchi.
Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal said, “There is, in fact, a genuine concern about the pressure on the BLOs.” Pointing out that the time allotted for the task was too short, he referred to the case of Uttar Pradesh and asked, “Elections are in 2027, but they have to complete it in 2 months. Why the hurry?”
CJI Kant said none of the stakeholders had appeared before it, and that they were facing problems.
“If the state governments are facing any difficulty, any logistical difficulty, why can’t they tell us?… Let the state governments come and explain to us how many employees they have, how many they have not been able to spare.”
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Sibal said BLOs are simply uploading forms without providing information to the voter, and then they claim they have uploaded 90 to 99 per cent. “Who is going to test that? What they say may be true, may not be true. How do we determine all this?”
