A retired Calcutta High Court judge heading one of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) appellate tribunals in West Bengal has offered to resign, citing the physical strain of a long daily commute, while indicating he would continue if permitted to work from home or from a location closer to his residence. The development underscores the logistical pressures facing the tribunals tasked with resolving a massive volume of electoral appeals. Justice (retd) Indrajit Chatterjee, who presides over the tribunal handling appeals from Murshidabad district, wrote to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court last week.

In the letter, he proposed stepping down with effect from November 2 unless alternative arrangements are made. Chatterjee lives in Salt Lake and currently travels to the tribunal premises at Joka in South 24 Parganas, a distance he described as more than 27 km one way. Combined with the return journey, the daily commute exceeds 60 km and often stretches to three or four hours because of poor road conditions and heavy traffic. He has requested either the option of working from home or an office within a 10-12 km radius of his residence and has sought a response within three weeks. The letter was sent by both email and speed post.

“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,” the septuagenarian told PTI. He has also noted that the government incurs significant expenditure on a vehicle and pilot car for the travel, yet the time lost in transit limits the number of appeals he can realistically hear each day—typically around ten. At that pace, clearing the remaining caseload would take an impractically long period.

Also Read: Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar Alleges BJP-JD(S) Plot to Delete Voters

The Election Commission of India constituted 19 appellate tribunals across West Bengal following Supreme Court directions to hear challenges against the inclusion or exclusion of names from electoral rolls under the SIR exercise conducted ahead of the Assembly elections. Murshidabad recorded one of the highest volumes of deletions in the state, with more than 4.5 lakh electors removed over alleged logical discrepancies. Statewide, millions of appeals have been filed, the majority seeking restoration of names, and a substantial backlog persists months after the polls. Chatterjee’s tribunal alone is dealing with a disproportionately large share of these cases.

Earlier, another retired judge, former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, had also resigned from tribunal duties, pointing to similar operational difficulties. Chatterjee’s offer to resign therefore reflects a broader strain on the system designed to provide a judicial remedy for those whose names were struck off the rolls. Whether his request for a more accessible workplace is accepted will determine if he continues to adjudicate the Murshidabad appeals or if a replacement must be appointed. In the meantime, the scale of pending matters continues to test the capacity of the tribunals and the practicality of the current arrangements for the retired judges who staff them.

Also Read: Shivakumar Seeks Constituency-Wise Form 7 Details, Raises Questions Over SIR Data Verification