Election Commission Reports 37 Lakh Pending Voter Appeals in West Bengal

The Election Commission of India informed the Supreme Court of India that over 37 lakh appeals related to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal remain pending. In an affidavit filed September 16, the commission reported that only 102,231 of the 3,820,683 total appeals filed across 24 districts have been disposed of, leaving a backlog of over 97% across 19 tribunals.

The Supreme Court ordered the disclosure of these statistics after petitioners, including Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Choudhury and the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, alleged that pendency rates were being kept secret. Petitioners claim that while roughly 7 lakh appeals were filed by voters seeking re-inclusion, approximately 31 lakh were filed by the commission or third-party objectors seeking exclusions.

A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant is monitoring the process to prevent voter disenfranchisement before December municipal elections in Kolkata and Howrah. Justice Joymalya Bagchi questioned the lack of a data breakdown regarding the nature of the appeals, noting that exclusion from electoral rolls denudes citizens of their voting rights. The court is currently considering whether to prioritize appeals from disenfranchised voters or constitute additional tribunals to expedite the process. The Election Commission argued that tribunal administration follows standard operating procedures and should remain independent of court directions.