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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said that government employees who have been deputed by state governments or State Election Commissions should perform statutory duties, including Special Intensive Revision (SIR) duty. The top court has also issued directions which state governments can follow if the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) engaged in SIR duty face hardships.

According to a LiveLaw report, the bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that “the employees who have been deputed by the State Governments/State Election Commissions at the disposal of the Election Commission of India for the purpose of performing statutory duties, including SIR, are obligated to perform such duties.”

Here's What The Bench Said

“In case they (BLOs) are facing hardships, including they being overburdened with their routine duties as well as the additional duties assigned by the Election Commission of India, the State Government can obviate such hardships, for which we deem it appropriate to issue the following directions : (i) 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,” the bench observed.

"(ii) Wherever any employee has any specific reason for seeking exemption from the duty assigned by the ECI, the competent authority of the state government shall consider such requests on case-to-case basis and replace such person with another employee. However, it 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 as explained above," it added.

In response to other prayers seeking ex-gratia compensation for the BLOs who recently died during SIR duties, the bench said that those aggrieved can file applications later. 

The Supreme Court made this observation while it was hearing an application by actor Vijay's Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) party which was seeking to stop actions being taken by the Election Commission against BLOs over lapses in their SIR duties. 

What The Petitioners Argued

According to the LiveLaw report, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who was representing the TVK, submitted that FIRs under Section 32 Representation of People Act have been filed by the Election Commission in Uttar Pradesh against BLOs. He said that the BLOs, most of whom are anganwadi workers and teachers, are not adequately equipped to perform SIR duties. 

"They work in the morning, teaching jobs then go to this job, work till 3 AM...a boy who had to go on his wedding, he said please give me leave, they suspended him, he commited suicide ....when you are doing this, atleast show the human side...criminal action is harsh, it should not be initiated," he submitted.

Bench Says ‘No Hurry’

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said that the Election Commission cannot execute all functions by itself and need to take help from the State's officers.

"The state govt cannot run away from this obligation, obviously, they are under a duty....if there is a difficulty being experienced on case to case basis, the state government shall exempt them and provide an alternative," CJI said.

"Why should the ECI register FIRs?" Sankaranarayanan asked.

"It is not for the first time, earlier also they have been registering it," CJI replied. "Let the process go on for 6-7 months, what is the rush?" Sankaranarayanan asked.