Ex-judge heading Bengal SIR tribunal offers to quit, cites commute issues

Retired Calcutta High Court judge Indrajit Chatterjee has offered to resign as the head of a tribunal hearing appeals related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, citing the difficulty of commuting more than 60 km every day.

Chatterjee, who is heading the SIR tribunal for Murshidabad district, said he would continue in the position if he is allowed to work from home or is provided an office closer to his residence in Salt Lake.

The septuagenarian retired judge has written to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, offering to step down as the head of the tribunal with effect from November 2.

Chatterjee said the distance between his residence and the tribunal office, along with poor road conditions and traffic congestion, had made the daily commute difficult.

"I cited the long distance of over 27 km from my Salt Lake residence to the tribunal at Joka in South 24 Parganas district, bad roads and traffic jams in the letter," he told news agency PTI.

Although the distance in one direction is more than 27 km, the daily commute involves travelling more than 60 km, he said.

Chatterjee has sought an alternative arrangement that would allow him to continue heading the tribunal without having to undertake the long journey every day.

"I have asked for the option of working from home or an office within a 10 to 12 km radius of my residence," he said.

The retired judge sent the letter to the Chief Justice by email and speed post last week. He has requested a response within three weeks.

Chatterjee is currently heading the SIR tribunal for Murshidabad district. More than 4.5 lakh names of electors were deleted in the district over alleged logical discrepancies, and the tribunal is dealing with appeals relating to the electoral rolls.

The tribunals were constituted as part of the Election Commission's exercise to hear appeals concerning the inclusion and exclusion of names from the electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

The Election Commission constituted 19 such tribunals in the state ahead of the Assembly elections.

The ex-judge's request to resign therefore comes while the tribunals are handling appeals arising from the electoral roll revision process.

Chatterjee retired as a judge of the Calcutta High Court in 2017 after attaining the superannuation age of 62 years.

He is not the first former Calcutta High Court judge to step down from an SIR tribunal. Earlier, former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court TS Sivagnanam resigned as the head of one of the SIR tribunals constituted for West Bengal.

For now, Chatterjee has offered to resign with effect from November 2 but has also made it clear that he is willing to continue if he is permitted to work from home or is given a tribunal office located closer to his Salt Lake residence.