Three out of 19 SIR tribunals vacant; ECI awaits names from Calcutta HC

At least three out of 19 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) tribunals in West Bengal remain vacant as the Election Commission of India (ECI) awaits names from the Calcutta High Court to appoint new presiding officers. This situation has arisen due to a massive backlog of appeals, with over 37 lakh voters currently left in a legal limbo ahead of local and municipal elections.

The Calcutta High Court will provide the names of retired high court judges to the West Bengal chief electoral officers, who will subsequently notify their appointments to the three vacant tribunals. Despite reporting to the Calcutta High Court, these tribunals receive significant secretarial assistance from the ECI, including staff and a digital platform for online hearings.

The SIR tribunals were established on March 21 pursuant to Supreme Court directions to adjudicate disputes arising from the SIR exercise, which involved purging or contesting millions of names in electoral rolls. However, the system's performance has fallen far short of expectations, with only about 1.02 lakh cases resolved out of 38.3 lakh appeals filed - a completion rate of less than three percent.

At the current pace, clearing the backlog could take over 12 years. The opposition has criticized the SIR exercise, alleging that the ECI is disproportionately deleting voter names, particularly from minority communities and traditional opposition strongholds, effectively hijacking democracy through algorithm-driven processes.