Supreme Court seeks ECI data on West Bengal electoral roll appeals

The Supreme Court of India has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide a detailed breakdown of appeals pending before 19 appellate tribunals in West Bengal. These tribunals were established following a special intensive revision (SIR) of the state electoral rolls. A three judge bench, led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, requested data to distinguish between appeals seeking the inclusion of voters and those seeking their exclusion. The court noted that voters excluded from the rolls are denuded of their voting rights and may require prioritization.

According to a Right to Information (RTI) response submitted to the court, approximately 3.81 million appeals were filed. The data indicates that roughly 700,000 appeals were filed by disenfranchised voters seeking inclusion, while about 3.1 million appeals sought the exclusion of names from the rolls. Of the 82,782 appeals decided so far, over 75,000 resulted in the inclusion of names, meaning more than 91 percent of decided cases favored the voters.

Legal representatives for the petitioners argued that the high volume of exclusion appeals burdens the tribunals and should not take priority over those seeking to regain voting rights. The court agreed that all appeals should be decided well before the 2029 parliamentary elections. The bench also stated it would determine if more tribunals are necessary after reviewing the ECI statistics.