37 lakh Bengal voter roll appeals pending, EC tells Supreme Court

The Election Commission has informed the Supreme Court that a vast majority of appeals against voter roll changes in West Bengal remain unresolved, with over 37 lakh cases pending before appellate tribunals. In a written response, the poll panel stated that of the 38.20 lakh appeals filed during the Special Intensive Revision exercise, only 1.02 lakh have been disposed of, leaving 37.18 lakh pending. The Supreme Court, which is examining a plea on the matter, had on August 25 directed the Election Commission to submit details on the pendency and disposal of appeals and to elaborate on steps being taken to streamline the mechanism, including the need for additional tribunals. The data provided does not offer a breakup between appeals filed by electors whose names were deleted and those challenging inclusions. During the claims and objections phase of the revision, 9.64 lakh applications for inclusion and over 99,000 applications for deletion were received. However, only around 1.82 lakh additions were reflected in the final electoral roll published on February 28.