Nearly 3.1 million of the 3.81 million, or 81.3%, appeals pending before West Bengal ’s appellate tribunals set up after the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are seeking the exclusion of names from the rolls, rather than challenging the deletion of voters, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday.
The disclosure prompted the Supreme Court to seek a detailed break-up of the pending appeals and their disposal, observing that appeals by persons excluded from the rolls may need prioritisation since their right to vote is immediately affected. SIR appellate tribunals comprise former chief justices and judges of high courts and were constituted to hear challenges to decisions taken by judicial officers who adjudicated claims and objections in the revision process. The data, contained in a Right to Information (RTI) response furnished to Congress lawmaker Isha Khan Choudhury, showed that only around 700,000 appeals were filed by voters challenging their exclusion from the electoral rolls.
The remaining appeals have been filed by persons or entities objecting to the inclusion of names, according to the information placed before the court.
The court also asked ECI to explain what steps it was taking to streamline and expedite disposal of the pending appeals. Because exclusion from the electoral roll immediately affects a statutory right, while an objection to someone’s inclusion might not carry the same urgency, it added that the distinction between the two categories of appeals was significant.
The court said it had already sought data on the functioning and disposal of appeals in another matter and could consider whether additional tribunals were required after examining the figures.
