West Bengal Voter List Appeals: Tribunals Clear Just 0.26% Of 25 Lakh Cases

Appellate tribunals in West Bengal have disposed of just 6,581 cases—roughly 0.26 per cent of the nearly 25 lakh appeals lodged against decisions made by judicial officers during the recent electoral roll revision exercise, official data revealed on Thursday.

According to PTI, the slow pace of disposals highlights a massive backlog in resolving voters' grievances following a massive clean-up of the state's electoral rolls. The tribunals were established on March 20 following instructions from the Supreme Court, which sought to create an independent appellate framework to address challenges arising from a rigorous verification process that saw over 27 lakh names deleted ahead of the assembly elections held on April 23 and 29.

Data from the Election Commission (EC) shows that out of the cases resolved by 12 of the 19 functional tribunals up to May 14, a total of 4,043 appeals were allowed. This meant that approximately 61.5 per cent of the individuals whose cases were heard successfully had their names reinstated on the voter lists.

Conversely, 1,267 appeals were rejected, whilst the precise legal status of the remaining 1,200 disposed cases was not immediately transparent from the available records. PTI reported that a total of 1,607 voters who received clearance from the tribunals up to 48 hours before the first and second phases of polling were permitted to cast their ballots.

Geographically, the distribution of case resolutions has been highly uneven. The districts of Kolkata North and Kolkata South collectively accounted for 1,777 disposals, representing about 27 per cent of the total cases resolved across the state. The tribunal overseeing these two urban electoral districts was chaired by retired Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, who stepped down on May 7 due to personal reasons. More than 51,000 appeals are still pending in these two Kolkata districts alone.

In stark contrast, districts like Murshidabad and Malda, which had registered exceptionally high volumes of appeals and initial deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, recorded very low disposal rates. In Murshidabad, only 112 appeals have been resolved out of more than 6.29 lakh applications filed. Similarly, Malda recorded a mere 185 disposals against a mountain of over 5.26 lakh pleas.

Officials noted that hearings have been conducted utilizing both online and offline platforms, though physical attendance by appellants has remained limited. Though updated official figures have not yet been formally released, sources indicated to PTI that the total number of settled appeals has recently edged up to around 10,000.

The entire judicial intervention stems from a February 20 order by the Supreme Court, which noted a distinct trust deficit between the Election Commission and the then West Bengal government regarding the preparation of electoral rolls. Following the apex court's intervention, the Calcutta High Court recommended approximately 700 judicial officers to scrutinise the cases of more than 60 lakh electors flagged by the EC for potential discrepancies in their identity-related documents.

Defending the integrity of the process, a senior Election Commission official stated, “The appellate process follows the Supreme Court directives, and we are making every effort to ensure eligible electors receive an opportunity to present their cases.” Another EC functionary reiterated that the core objective of the Special Intensive Revision was to address structural discrepancies and ensure greater accuracy and transparency in the voters’ list.

(With inputs from PTI)