A more detailed look at the pending appeals against decisions taken during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal before the scheduled bye-elections on October 6.
The Supreme Court declined to advance the hearing of a case pertaining to pending appeals against decisions taken during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, ahead of the scheduled bye-elections in the Rejinagar and Nandigram Assembly constituencies on October 6. A mention was made before a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant seeking an earlier hearing, as the case had been listed for Tuesday but did not appear on the cause list.
During the hearing, a lawyer argued that if the pending appeals are not decided before the bye-polls, some voters might miss out on their vote. This would be the second time these people would be missing out on their vote, as about 91 lakh voters were removed from the electoral rolls before the revision process began during the Assembly elections held in April.
Since March 10, 19 appellate tribunals have been hearing appeals against decisions taken during the voter roll revision. As of September 16, only around 1.2 lakh out of 38.2 lakh appeals had been decided – which translates to 3.1% of the total appeals filed.
Of the total appeals filed before tribunals, 22.2 lakh were filed by voters whose names had been deleted from the electoral rolls. These 22.2 lakh appeals make up around 82% of the 27 lakh voters whose names were deleted and placed under adjudication during the revision ahead of the Assembly elections. At least 16.1 lakh appeals were filed against the inclusion of voters, but the Election Commission did not specify who had filed these appeals.
The poll panel also said that it may increase the number of appellate tribunals in West Bengal to 42, corresponding to the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state. This decision could potentially affect the voting rights of some citizens in the upcoming bye-elections.
Source:
Scroll.in
