New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday issued a slew of directions to ease the workload on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) involved in the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in several states, following reports of deaths and FIRs against ground-level staff.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed that employees deputed by state governments and SECs (State Election Commissions) “are obligated to perform such duties”, while adding that state governments should intervene whenever BLOs face difficulties.

The CJI-headed Bench suggested that state governments provide additional staff to the ECI, enabling a proportional reduction in working hours.

“Wherever any employee has any specific reason for seeking exemp

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