The Supreme Court was asked to prioritize appeals from voters who were excluded during the electoral roll revision process in West Bengal. The court has directed the Election Commission to provide an affidavit on pending cases.
During a hearing on Tuesday, lawyer Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing West Bengal Congress leader Prasenjit Bose, told the Supreme Court that out of 38 lakh appeals before special intensive revision tribunals in West Bengal, only 7 lakh were against deletions from the electoral rolls. The remaining 31 lakh applications were challenging inclusions in the list. Sankaranarayanan demanded that the tribunals prioritize appeals of those deleted from the rolls as over 90% of the decided appeals had been ruled in favour of voters.
In addition, he suggested giving priority to appeals from Kolkata and Howrah, as municipal elections in these cities are expected to take place in December. Sankaranarayanan obtained this information through a Right to Information response provided by the state chief electoral officer to Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhury.
The lawyer pointed out that out of nearly 83,000 appeals that were disposed of, tribunals allowed voters to be included in the electoral rolls in more than 75,000 cases. Sankaranarayanan contended that there was no need to set up additional tribunals if the appeals against deletions are prioritized, as those appealing against inclusions have other remedies under the Representation of the People Act.
The Supreme Court then directed the Election Commission to file an affidavit stating the number of appeals pending before tribunals, a break-up of appeals filed by excluded persons and those against inclusions, and actions taken in response to the applications. The special intensive revision of voter rolls in West Bengal was carried out before the Assembly elections in April.
Final rolls published in February initially excluded more than 61 lakh voters, with the process continuing through supplementary lists and adjudication of about 60 lakh ‘doubtful and pending’ cases. By April 6, about 91 lakh voters, nearly 11.9% of West Bengal’s electorate before the revision process began, had been removed from the electoral rolls.
Source:
Scroll.in
