91% of West Bengal SIR appeals result in voter names being restored

The appellate tribunals set up for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal have so far disposed of 82,782 appeals, with 75,443 cases, or more than 91%, resulting in the restoration of voters’ names. The remaining 7,339 appeals, accounting for 8.86%, resulted in names being excluded from the electoral rolls.

The figures were disclosed by the Election Commission in response to an RTI application filed by Congress MP Isha Khan Chowdhury, the Indian Express reported

The EC’s response also showed that the number of appeals exceeded the number of voters classified as “Not Eligible” during the adjudication process. Chowdhury said 38,10,620 appeals were filed against 27,28,500 voters marked as “Not Eligible”, leaving a difference of 10,82,120 appeals. Chowdhury said the discrepancy required clarification from the poll panel.

The Congress MP also pointed to the high rate of restoration among cases already decided by the tribunals. According to her, the fact that over 91% of disposed appeals resulted in names being added back to the electoral rolls raised questions about the initial removal of genuine voters and whether eligible citizens had been prevented from exercising their franchise.

Congress leader Prasenjit Bose, who heads the party’s SIR panel and is among those challenging the revision exercise before the Supreme Court, said only around seven lakh of the 27 lakh voters excluded during the adjudication process over alleged “logical discrepancies” had been able to file appeals.

Bose argued that the Election Commission’s March 10 order establishing the appellate tribunals was intended to provide a route for voters whose claims had been rejected to secure inclusion in the rolls. He alleged that the mechanism had instead enabled the EC and other objectors to file appeals seeking large-scale deletions.

The Congress leader said the party had asked the Supreme Court to prescribe a time-bound process for resolving the appeals, particularly in view of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation elections expected to take place by the end of the year.

EC data showed that the highest number of appeals were filed in the border district of Murshidabad. Of the 7,47,305 appeals submitted there, 487 have so far been decided, with 434 names restored and 53 excluded.

In Malda, another border district, 5,31,149 appeals were filed. Of the 1,471 cases disposed of so far, all resulted in the inclusion of the names in the electoral rolls.

North 24 Parganas recorded 3,58,872 appeals, of which 277 have been disposed of, with all the cases resulting in restoration.

South 24 Parganas recorded 3,21,332 appeals. Of the cases decided, 20,107 names have been restored and 24 excluded, making it the district with the highest number of inclusions so far. Hooghly followed, with 19,528 names added back to the rolls.

In Darjeeling, 50,712 appeals were filed. So far, 160 cases have been disposed of, with 159 names restored and one excluded.