Supreme Court Directs Election Commission on West Bengal Electoral Roll Appeals

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission to provide details of appeals decided and pending before appellate tribunals in West Bengal in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana took note of a plea filed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, seeking expeditious disposal of SIR-related cases pending before the appellate tribunals in the state.

The top court asked the Election Commission to furnish details of cases that have been decided as well as those still pending before the tribunals.

While issuing notice to the poll panel, the bench fixed Chowdhury's plea for further hearing on August 25.

The Supreme Court had on March 10 ordered the setting up of independent appellate tribunals headed by former high court judges to hear appeals filed by voters whose names were excluded during the SIR exercise in West Bengal.

The court had also allowed the deployment of trial court judges from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand to deal with complaints arising from the electoral roll revision.

The SIR exercise in West Bengal was conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court amid allegations of irregularities and concerns over a "trust deficit" between the then state government and the Election Commission.

The latest proceedings come as the apex court continues to monitor the process for dealing with complaints and appeals arising from the deletion of names from electoral rolls during the West Bengal SIR.