Electoral roll freeze bars voter addition, SC lays down rules for filing of appeal

Kolkata: Amid serpentine queues outside government offices in parts of West Bengal for physical submission of appeals against deletions in the SIR adjudication process, the Supreme Court has clarified that once the electoral roll is frozen, no names can be added for the ongoing election, though the appeal process may continue, while laying down guidelines for the appellate mechanism under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

In East Burdwan’s Katwa and North 24 Parganas’ Barasat, hundreds lined up outside Sub-Divisional and District Magistrate offices to challenge deletions from voter lists. Central forces were deployed in Katwa to manage crowds as confusion prevailed among applicants waiting for hours to submit appeals.

The apex court observed that the Election Commission of India permits appeals both online and in physical form. Offline appeals may be filed before the District Magistrate, Sub-Divisional Magistrate or Sub-Divisional Officer, who must digitise and upload them onto the ECI NET platform at the earliest. Authorities are required to issue a formal receipt or acknowledgement for every physical filing, ensuring transparency.

The bench clarified that appeals are not limited to wrongful exclusion. Appellants may also raise concerns over the absence or inadequacy of reasons in decisions taken by judicial officers during the SIR process.

On electoral roll freezing, the court noted that the roll for the first phase of polling was frozen on April 6, while the second phase roll will freeze on April 9. Once frozen, even if an excluded voter files an appeal, the person cannot vote in the ongoing election, though the appeal may be decided for future correction.

To ensure consistency, the court directed a uniform procedure for all 19 Appellate Tribunals, adhering to natural justice. The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has been asked to constitute a three-member panel of former judges to frame the procedure.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan submitted that of nearly 40 lakh cases examined, about 55 per cent were included and 45 per cent excluded. Around seven lakh appeals have been filed, with several lakh more expected, even as tribunals are yet to be fully operational.

While Divan sought publication of a supplementary roll and senior advocate Kapil Sibal sought interim protection for excluded voters, the court declined both.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi cautioned that fixing timelines for tribunals handling lakhs of appeals could lead to “chaos”, stressing adherence to the election schedule.

Meanwhile, the Calcutta High Court has constituted a three-member committee. The committee comprises former Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, Justice Pradipta Roy, and Justice Pranab Kumar Deb.

The tribunal judges will commence their work after the committee formulates a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).