Bengal SIR: 36 lakh voter cases cleared, EC to publish fresh list today
Kolkata: Judicial officers tasked with scrutinising nearly 60 lakh voters placed ‘under adjudication’ have disposed of around 36 lakh cases till Thursday. The Election Commission of India is set to publish the second supplementary list on Friday, 4–6 hours after receiving inputs from the Calcutta High Court.
The first supplementary list, released late on Monday night, contained details of 10 lakh electors, though around 28 lakh cases had been disposed of by then. The second list will include updated figures of disposed cases, with e-signatures from around 700 judicial officers.
On Wednesday, the Commission said 13 lakh of the 32 lakh adjudicated electors had been placed in the deletion list. However, no deletion figures were shared on Thursday.
According to Commission sources, preparations have been stepped up for setting up appellate tribunals where aggrieved electors can challenge the deletion of their names. While the state had proposed four locations, the Judicial Academy in New Town is the preferred site. Senior officials from the Chief Electoral Officer’s office and the Registrar General of the High Court are expected to visit the site soon to assess capacity for setting up tribunals.
The Commission has also taken a strict view of the clash in Basanti, South 24-Parganas, during a campaign by BJP candidate Bikash Sardar. It has questioned why additional central forces were not deployed despite their presence and sought a detailed report from the state police on why an unauthorised procession was not stopped and whether there were intelligence lapses. Eight people have been detained in connection with the incident.
Responding to allegations by the Trinamool Congress regarding the appointment of four observers accused of various offences and political bias, the state CEO’s office said such appointments were made by the apex poll body.
“We have forwarded the complaint to the ECI, and a final decision will be taken by the central body,” an official said.
