West Bengal SIR: Over 22 lakh excluded voters filed appeals against exclusion from electoral roll

The court had also sought the precise number of appeals pending in the tribunals, and of the appeals decided by the tribunals. File | Photo Credit: PTI A second affidavit filed by the Election Commission of India (EC) in the Supreme Court has revealed that over 22 lakh voters purged from the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal have filed appeals challenging their exclusion.The number of voters challenging the deletion of their names from the electoral roll is significant as approximately 27 lakh voters were excluded on the ground of ‘logical discrepancies’.This would mean that a lion’s share of the 27 lakh voters may be contesting their exclusion before 19 Appellate Tribunals constituted on the orders of the Supreme Court over six months ago.The EC’s figure of 22,21,118 appeals by excluded voters is striking, particularly given that judicial officers, actively deployed during the SIR verification phase, have already adjudicated these claims and objections.The EC’s affidavit said that 16.10 lakh appeals had been filed against inclusion.This is the first time a break-up of the number of appeals concerning both exclusions and inclusions have been given.A total of 38.31 lakh appeals were filed in the tribunals, the poll body said.As of September, the 19 tribunals have decided 1,26,194 appeals. Another affidavit had pegged the disposal rate as 1,02,231. The latter would probably be the disposal statistic till the month of August.The number of pending appeals currently before the tribunals exceeds 37.05 lakh.The affidavit filed in response to a petition filed by Rajya Sabha MP and Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Derek O’ Brien conveyed the EC’s agreeability to an increase in the number of tribunals.Prasenjit Bose, chairperson of the SIR Committee, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, represented by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Neha Rathi, had urged the court to increase the number of tribunals to 42, keeping in mind the nearing municipal polls in the State.“To further streamline and expedite the disposal of the pending appeals, it is proposed that the number of appellate tribunals in 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,” the EC said.The EC also agreed with the petitioners’ suggestion to open up the tribunals to video conferencing.“The software developed by the Commission is location-agnostic, which enables judicial officers presiding over the appellate tribunals to conduct hearings and undertake other proceedings from anywhere, including from their respective places of residence,” the EC said.The affidavits were in response to a direction from the court to the EC to segregate the exact number of appeals filed by ousted voters seeking re-inclusion into the West Bengal electoral roll, and others wanting more voters to be excluded from the roll.The court had also sought the precise number of appeals pending in the tribunals, and of the appeals decided by the tribunals.The Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India Surya Kant had said it would take a call on the need to constitute more tribunals after getting the statistics right.The case is scheduled for hearing on September 22. Published - September 19, 2026 06:37 pm IST