KOLKATA: Retired Calcutta High Court judge Biswajit Basu has resigned from an appellate tribunal hearing pleas of voters excluded from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the special intensive revision (SIR), becoming the fourth retired judge to step down.
Basu, who was entrusted with adjudicating appeals from Murshidabad district, wrote to Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Rabindra V. Ghughe on Saturday, citing personal reasons, sources said.
He was among 19 retired judges appointed by the Election Commission on March 20 to adjudicate appeals under the High Court’s supervision following Supreme Court directions.
His resignation comes amid a backlog of more than 37 lakh appeals from voters seeking restoration of their names to the electoral rolls.
Basu also heads a judicial inquiry commission constituted by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to investigate allegations of institutional corruption during the previous Trinamul Congress regime. He was appointed to the commission nearly six months ago.
Earlier, retired judges Indrajit Chattopadhyay, T.S. Sivagnanam and Ranjit Kumar Bag resigned from the appellate tribunals for various reasons after the BJP came to power in the state.
The latest resignation has raised fresh concerns over the tribunals’ ability to clear the enormous backlog of appeals.
It also comes amid Opposition protests alleging ‘vote chori’ through the SIR exercise and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
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