NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday hailed the record 92 per cent voter turnout in the first phase of West Bengal assembly elections as a sign of robust democratic process in the country, after dealing with petitions challenging the special intensive revision, and deploying judicial officers for a fair scrutiny. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi made the remark after TMC MP and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, a vociferous opponent of SIR, said, “One good thing happened. Record 92% voting happened because all migrant labourers rushed to the state to cast their vote in the fear that if they didn’t, their names would be struck off the electoral roll”.

People must realise the power of their vote: CJI Kant

Justice Bagchi said, “Another good thing is that there was no violence during the polling, except sporadic incidents.” CJI Kant said, “As a citizen of India, I was very happy to see the high percentage of voting. People need to participate in voting.”Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, too, said the forces did a commendable job in curbing violence that resulted in high voter turnout. Justice Bagchi cited a Bengali adage to describe earlier violence during the state elections and said, “When kings fight, the poor men suffer and die”.CJI Surya Kant said, “People must realise the power of their vote in a democracy. More than 92% went to vote. When a large number of people go to vote, there is no violence. That shows people realised that their strength lies in democratic system.”SG Mehta said, “Ninety two percent voter turnout is historic. Except for sporadic violence, the forces have done a commendable job. We must be thankful to them. There had been a history of both pre- and post-poll violence in the state.”The CJI added, “It shows the fairness of democratic process. In Tamil Nadu also there is high voter turnout.”Justice Bagchi said, “Voting in a democratic process is something which needs to be protected and honoured. Otherwise, the very essence of democracy will be lost.”Turning to senior advocate D S Naidu who represented the Election Commission, Justice Bagchi said, “For change, Naidu’s client is applauded by everyone.” This unexpected compliment for EC was unpalatable to Banerjee, who disagreed and said for the last three days the EC had been lambasted by Calcutta HC. Naidu protested and said Banerjee was being unfair and wrong. “It is Banerjee who is abusing EC in courts,” he said.Mehta requested the bench to close the proceedings, cautioning that the debate will get reduced to a political discourse by Trinamool. The bench called it a day by asking both Naidu and Banerjee to have lunch together.