Supreme Court Rebukes Prashant Bhushan for Calling Election Commission a "Despot" During SIR Voter List Hearing

New Delhi:

During Supreme Court proceedings today, senior advocate Prashant Bhushan used derogatory terminology when referring to the Election Commission while presenting arguments regarding the legality of Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists. The SIR process has faced multiple challenges, including opposition from Trinamool Congress MP Dola Sen.

Bhushan, representing the Association of Democratic Reforms, questioned the urgency behind implementing the SIR exercise. "Why this hurry? It led to a situation that 30 BLOs committed suicide. Every BLO had to go house to house. What will happen to migrant workers?" he argued in court.

He continued his criticism of the Election Commission, stating, "You said you will not follow any norms of transparency... you will not give data of the voters, you will not give the disclosures of applications and deletion on the website."

Bhushan then made the controversial remark, "If you give plenary powers to the Election Commission of India, it will become a despot."

This prompted Chief Justice of India Surya Kant to intervene, requesting Bhushan to limit his submissions to formal pleadings. "Let us not make any statements," Justice Kant admonished.

The working conditions of Block Level Officials (BLOs) of the Election Commission have generated significant concern nationwide.

Multiple BLOs have died since beginning work on the SIR initiative, with their families attributing these deaths to work-related stress. Most recently, a BLO in Uttar Pradesh died by suicide on Sunday, leaving behind a note mentioning overwhelming work pressure.

In Bengal and other states conducting voter re-verification exercises, numerous BLOs have voiced complaints about excessive workloads, substandard working conditions, and inadequate compensation.

Bengal's governing party, the Trinamool Congress, has publicly criticized the Election Commission, alleging that the hasty implementation of the SIR exercise was driven by ulterior motives.

Previously, the Supreme Court had requested the Election Commission's response to petitions filed by individuals from Bengal challenging the process.

In its submitted affidavit to the Supreme Court, the Commission has reported that enumeration forms have been distributed to 99 percent of voters, with 50 percent of these forms now digitized.