3.7 million SIR appeals pending in Bengal; ECI proposes 42 election tribunals

The Election Commission of India (ECI) told the Supreme Court that it requires 42 election tribunals in total in West Bengal for expeditious disposal of over 3.7 million appeals filed concerning voters deleted from the electoral roll during the special intensive revision (SIR).

With 19 tribunals currently dealing with the appeals, the poll panel stated in an affidavit filed this week before the Supreme Court that out of 3.8 million appeals filed, 3.7 million are currently pending. Over 2.2 million of these are filed by excluded voters, and about 1.6 million are cross-appeals challenging the inclusion of names in the electoral rolls following SIR.

To deal with this caseload, the ECI said that speedy disposal of these appeals requires more than the present strength of tribunals.

Also Read | The SIR exercise and the points of concern

It said, “With a view to further streamline and expedite the disposal of the pending appeals, it is proposed that the number of appellate tribunals in the state of West Bengal may be considered for increase to correspond with the number of Parliamentary constituencies in the state, so as to facilitate expeditious disposal of the pending appeals.”

West Bengal has 42 Parliamentary constituencies and the commission has suggested having as many tribunals as Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The affidavit of the poll panel came in response to an application moved by Trinamool Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien who is one of the petitioners in the top court challenging the SIR exercise in West Bengal. The information provided by the ECI stated that of the 3.8 million appeals filed before the tribunals, the appeals against exclusion are over 57%. The affidavit further pointed out the tribunals also face 1.61 million appeals challenging inclusion of voters in the list.