91% of names back in Bengal electoral roll as SIR tribunals dispose of handful of appeals

In West Bengal, the State Election Commission's appellate tribunals have processed 82,782 appeals, adding back 91% (75,443) of names to the electoral rolls and excluding 8.86% (7,339) of names. This disclosure was made by the EC in response to a Right To Information (RTI) query filed by Congress MP Isha Khan Chowdhury.

The discrepancy arises as the number of appeals filed (38,10,620) is significantly higher than the number of voters listed as "Not Eligible" (27,28,500). This 10,82,120 gap, revealed by Chowdhury, raises questions about the accuracy of the initial deletion of genuine voters and whether eligible citizens were wrongly denied the right to vote.

Congress leader Prasenjit Bose, head of the SIR panel and petitioner in the Supreme Court, stated that only seven lakh of the 27 lakh deleted voters have filed appeals. The remaining appeals, according to Bose, were filed by the EC or individual objectors. Bose argues that the EC's March 10 order for the Appellate Tribunals was intended for restoring those whose inclusion was rejected by judicial officers, not for bulk deletions.

Bose urged the Supreme Court to establish a time-bound schedule for the disposal of appeals, considering upcoming elections to the Kolkata and Howrah Municipal Corporations. The EC data shows that the highest number of appeals were filed in Murshidabad, Malda, and North 24 Parganas districts, with most appeals resulting in inclusion in the electoral rolls.