Behind Officers' Rescue In Bengal, SOS To Chief Justice And Group Calls

The Chief Justice of India's phone dinged late on Wednesday night, around 11, with a WhatsApp message from the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. 

It was an SOS.

Seven judicial officers, including three women, were gheraoed at around 3:30 on Wednesday afternoon inside the Kaliachak 2 Block Development Office (BDO) in Bengal's Malda district by a large crowd, alleging that genuine voters' names had been deleted from the electoral rolls.

Officials said the protesters had initially sought a meeting with the officers. When they were denied entry, they began a demonstration outside the office, which soon turned into a prolonged gherao.

The standoff was triggered by mass deletions from the electoral rolls under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, process ahead of the Bengal Assembly election scheduled for April 23 and 29.

As many as 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand are deployed in the ongoing SIR process to deal with over 60 lakh objections of those who are excluded from the voter lists during the SIR of electoral rolls.

The Supreme court took suo motu cognisance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the high court detailing a harrowing night where judicial officers were held captive by a mob for over nine hours without food or water.

"A letter was preceded, late last night, by WhatsApp message received by some of us from the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court, detailing that seven judicial officers were gheraoed by anti-social elements at the BDO office in the Kaliachowk area of Malda District," the Chief Justice said.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Surya Kant referred to the "shocking" timeline of the incident and said at 3:30 pm gherao began and the Registrar General of the high court informed the state authorities immediately.

He went on and said till 8.30 pm, despite repeated pleas, no tangible action was taken by the state officials.

"Nothing, however, was done till 8.30 pm. The Registrar General then contacted the Home Secretary and the Director General of Police (DGP). Assurance was made for early action. But no action was taken by authorities. Even food and water was not permitted to be supplied to the judicial officers," the Supreme Court order noted.

The Chief Justice of the High Court was forced to intervene personally, placing group calls to the home secretary and DGP.

Chief Justice Surya Kant remained in constant touch with the Chief Justice of the High Court, closely tracking developments.

The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court was thereafter constrained to contact the Director General of Police and the Home Secretary, and call them at his residence, to jointly monitor the situation.

At around 1 am on Thursday, a large police contingent led by senior district officials reached the spot, dispersed the protesters and rescued the judicial officers.

Even after the rescue, the judicial officers' vehicles were attacked with stones, bricks and sticks, Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

"Shockingly, when the judicial officers were released around midnight and were returning to their respective places of stay, their vehicles were hit with stones and attacked with bamboo sticks and bricks. In this light, the Hon'ble Chief Justice has strongly deprecated the delay on the part of the civil and police administration in taking appropriate action," Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

"Till 11 o'clock, your Collector was not there. I had to verbally instruct very harsh orders in the night," Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

The bench noted its disappointment on perusing the letter of the High Court Chief Justice, that the Chief Secretary could not be contacted, as he had not shared a mobile number with WhatsApp facility, as a result no communication could be conveyed to him.

Following the gherao incident, all District Judges were addressed through video conferencing with a view to motivate judicial officers to complete the remaining work by the night of April 5, particularly in districts scheduled to go to poll in the first phase. 

"We are told that after the conference concluded, the judicial officers responded positively. However, the subject incident, as rightly pointed out by the learned Chief Justice, is likely to have a chilling effect on the judicial officers who have been working tirelessly, without availing leave even on Saturdays and Sundays," Chief Justice Surya Kant noted.

"The incident that took place yesterday is a brazen attempt not only to browbeat judicial officers, but also amounts to a challenge to the authority of this court. This incident certainly cannot be construed to be a routine occurrence and, ex facie, appears to be a calculated, well-planned and deliberate act intended to demoralise judicial officers and obstruct the ongoing process of adjudication of objections in the remaining cases," Chief Justice Surya Kant said.

The Supreme Court came down heavily on state authorities. 

"Additionally, the chief secretary, the DGP, the District Magistrate, Malda and the Superintendent of Police, Malda are also directed to show cause as to why suitable action should not be taken against them in light of the letter received from the Chief Justice of the High Court," the top court ordered.

The Supreme Court bench also issued a slew of directions to ensure that no impediment is caused in the SIR process entrusted to judicial officers and to assure them that their life, liberty, property and family members will be protected.