Mohammad Mosleuddin Subhani of Murshidabad has six brothers and sisters in his family. None of them could vote in the recently held assembly elections in West Bengal.
The reason for this was that during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list, the Election Commission had marked the existence of six children of the same father as a 'logical anomaly'. After this, the names of all the six brothers and sisters were removed from the voter list.
Subhani says, "When we had our hearing, we showed all the necessary documents. Despite this, all our names were removed. Despite being an adult Indian citizen, I could not vote for the first time."
Like Subhani, about 27 lakh people were considered ineligible to vote under the judicial process. Just before the elections their names were removed from the voter list.
Now many of these people have to wait for the tribunal's decision to get back the right to vote.
19 'Appellate Tribunals' were formed in West Bengal on the instructions of the Supreme Court to settle the objections and complaints related to the right to vote.
The responsibility of each tribunal has been given to a retired judge. These tribunals have to consider the applications of the people removed from the voter list and decide on their right to vote.
These tribunals were formed in March. But it is believed that their work may take several years to complete.
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Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party won the elections by a huge margin and came to power in West Bengal for the first time.
But lakhs of 'deleted voters' like Subhani are still waiting for the tribunal's decision. Until the applications for adding their names back to the voter list are resolved, they do not know whether their names will be added back or not.
Subhani says, "Our concern is increasing every day. It is being heard somewhere that deleted voters are facing difficulty in getting ration. If a woman's name has been removed from the voter list, she will not get the benefit of Annapurna Yojana. We are very worried about the speed with which the cases are being disposed of in the tribunal. Our future is now in the hands of the tribunal."
How far has the disposal of applications in the Tribunal reached?
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The Election Commission had submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court on 16 September. According to this affidavit, about 38 lakh 32 thousand applications have been submitted in the tribunals.
Of these, about 22 lakh 22 thousand applications are from those people whose names were removed from the voter list. Apart from this, applications have also been received to remove names of about 16 lakh 11 thousand people from the existing voter list.
It has been told in the affidavit that till now only 1 lakh 26 thousand applications related to the right to vote have been disposed of. This means that out of the total applications submitted, only 3.29 percent has been disposed of.
According to the Election Commission's affidavit, 92.98 percent of the people who filed applications against removal of names have been considered valid voters by the tribunals.
At present, more than 37 lakh 5 thousand applications are pending before the tribunals for consideration. It is clear that a large number of applications are still waiting for disposal. This process of checking the documents of the people removed from the voter list and taking a decision is taking a lot of time.
Figures till September 10 have been given in the affidavit of the Election Commission. According to these figures, among all the districts of West Bengal, the maximum number of applications have been submitted to the tribunal from Murshidabad. But the speed of their disposal is very slow.
The work of the tribunals started in April. After this, till September 10, about seven and a half lakh applications were submitted from Murshidabad. Of these, only 595 applications were disposed of. Names of 522 people were re-added to the voter list, while 73 applications were rejected.
According to the Election Commission data, out of the seven and a half lakh applications received from Murshidabad in the last five months, only 0.08 percent could be disposed of.
Due to such a large number of applications pending in the appellate tribunals, the question is being raised whether lakhs of people will be able to vote in the upcoming municipal elections in West Bengal.
Similarly, there is uncertainty about whether the applications of the people removed from the voter list of Rejinagar and Nandigram assembly seats will be resolved before the upcoming by-elections or not.
In May this year, retired Justice TS Sivagnanam, who was holding the responsibility of a tribunal, had left his post of the tribunal.
According to a report in 'Times of India', he had disposed of a total of 1,777 applications in 22 days.
He had told the media, "I worked in the tribunal every day for 22 days. From 8.30 in the morning to 5 in the evening, I disposed of so many applications. Even on Sundays, I did this work alone."
However, he believed that if the work continues at the same pace at which the applications related to voting rights are being disposed of, it would take many years for a judge to examine lakhs of applications and give a decision.
After his resignation, he told the media that there were some problems related to online applications. Judges are generally used to writing orders in detail, but in this system a limit of words has been fixed for writing orders.
Most of the retired judges are not very comfortable in using technology. Therefore they may face difficulty in logging in or uploading online orders.
What problems are the 'deleted voters' applying for?
Due to this situation caused by SIR, 'deleted voters' are facing many problems. A few months ago, a person named Mahibullah Mandal had filed an application in the Supreme Court.
They had demanded that they should not be deprived of the facility of government ration due to losing the right to vote after special and thorough revision of the voter list.
Ration system in India is a government system to provide daily essential items on subsidy to low income families.
Mandal alleges that in June, the Food and Supplies Department of the West Bengal Government had issued an order. There was mention of keeping 'deleted voters' out of the ration facility.
The Supreme Court directed that the matter related to their voting rights in the tribunal should be resolved within two months.
Calcutta High Court lawyer Asif Raza Ansari told what kind of problems people are facing due to delay in disposal of applications in tribunals.
He says that in many cases people who have been removed from the voter list have to go to the High Court due to their problems.
In this regard, he gave the example of one of his clients.
He says, "Recently a boy from Uttar Dinajpur district had passed the medical entrance examination and was preparing to take admission in a medical college."
"For admission in medical, a form has to be filled in which the address of permanent residence has to be given. But his father was a deleted voter. That is why no official of the local administration wanted to give this form to the boy."
Ansari said that he had to file an urgent application in the Calcutta High Court, so that the hearing of the boy's father in the tribunal and the examination of documents could be completed quickly.
The High Court directed that the petition should be disposed of after hearing it within two weeks.
He says, "Within a few days of the High Court's order, an immediate hearing of the boy's father was arranged in the tribunal. For this I would like to thank the tribunal."
"After appealing in the tribunal, many people are going to the High Court through lawyers for various reasons, so that their applications can be disposed of quickly."
According to Ansari, there are solid reasons for the tribunal taking so much time to dispose of an application. He says that in every application case many steps have to be completed including examining the documents and writing the decision.
He says, "The judge in charge of the tribunal carefully examines all the documents of every person. He has to see whether all the documents match with each other or not and whether the person's name is written correctly everywhere."
"After this, on the basis of documents, it has to be considered whether the person is an eligible voter or not. Then the judge has to write his decision on an order sheet. After signing and stamping it, it has to be uploaded on the Election Commission's website."
Ansari says, "It is natural for this entire process to take time. If the work of the tribunal starts at 11 in the morning and continues till 4 in the evening, then there are many hearings and lunch breaks during this time. In such a situation, a judge can dispose of only a limited number of applications in a tribunal in a day.
How are voters' cases being resolved in the tribunal?
Many of Ansari's clients have attended the tribunal hearing. He says that at present the hearing is being conducted in the tribunal by calling people in front and also through video conferencing.
He says, “Many people are not able to attend the hearing in person. Such people attend the hearing from their home or sub-divisional office. "But our experience shows that in many cases, personal involvement at the tribunal is more effective."
"This allows the person to present the necessary documents directly and make a strong case to the judge."
According to Ansari, many times the situation is not clear regarding various matters in online hearing.
Many times the person making the appeal is also not able to present his case well. Especially when the internet speed or quality is poor.
He explains, "During the hearing, your documents are scrutinized. It is checked whether your name is there in the voter list of 2002 or not and there is no difference or discrepancy in it. It is also seen whether the information in your old voter card and the current documents match with each other."
Election Commission's suggestion for early disposal of applications
Therefore, if necessary, the judge can conduct hearings even without being present at the designated tribunal location. They can also hear from their home.
The Commission has told the court that this system will save time spent in commuting and will help in quick disposal of applications.
At present all the tribunals are functioning from an office of the Union Jal Shakti Ministry located in Joka area of South 24 Parganas.
