West Bengal SIR: Judges refuse EC portal access over Aadhaar authentication
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Kolkata: The disposal of appeals against voter deletions in West Bengal's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) has remained stalled as appellate tribunal judges have not been accessing the Election Commission's online portal over concerns surrounding its Aadhaar authentication feature.
In response to the issue, the Election Commission last week asked the judges to obtain digital signature certificates through a private agency, using their PAN cards and government-issued identity documents, according to records accessed by The Indian Express.
The proposed verification procedure requires applicants to submit scanned copies of identity documents, photographs, mobile numbers and email addresses. It also involves one-time password authentication and video verification using original identification documents. Each certificate costs Rs 2,300.
The judges, appointed following a Supreme Court directive, had raised objections to the Aadhaar-based authentication system in a communication to the state's additional chief electoral officer on September 24. The feature had been introduced three days earlier.
Although the judges have continued examining cases offline, their absence from the portal has disrupted the online disposal of appeals.
The backlog is substantial, with only 1.26 lakh of the 38.31 lakh appeals settled, according to figures submitted by the Election Commission to the Supreme Court in September.
The apex court had directed the formation of appellate tribunals on March 20 to review decisions involving the inclusion and deletion of voters from the electoral rolls.