West Bengal CEO seeks clarity on re-registration of voters stuck in court cases

People are gathering to appeal to the tribunal over issues related to a particularly intensive revision of electoral rolls. File | Photo credit: PTI

West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought clarification from the Election Commission of India (ECI) on whether voters whose cases are stuck in the state’s appellate tribunals could somehow be considered for fresh reinstatement of voters left out during the SIR process.

On October 2, the ECI directed the Chief Executives of all states and Union Territories where the Special Intensive Review (SIR) has been completed or is underway to compare the pre-SIR electoral rolls with the current ones and enroll those left out but eligible through Form 6 within one month.

In a meeting with CEOs on Tuesday (October 6), the ECI asked them to continue the special registration drive on a war footing by organizing camps to begin with, followed by door-to-door visits by stall level officers (BLOs).

While many CEOs had questions about the time limit for the exercise and other protocols, the West Bengal CEO questioned whether the more than 38 million voters whose cases are stuck in appellate courts will be part of the proceedings, sources said.

A senior ECI official present on the video conference could not give her a clear answer and told her that the matter would be discussed later.

The Hindu had earlier reported that ECI sources said the new registration would not be applicable to court cases.

The appeals tribunals have so far approved 1.26 million out of a total of 38.31 million appeals, which is about 3% of the total number of cases.

Of the 19 appellate tribunals set up by the ECI in March, only 16 remain functional as three retired judges quit citing various operational issues. Their positions remain vacant.

The Appellate Tribunals came out of the Supreme Court’s oversight of the SIR. Judicial officers, drawn up from a list sent by the Calcutta High Court on the instructions of the Supreme Court, adjudicated about 60 million “doubtful and pending” cases. On March 10, the Supreme Court ordered that a separate appellate body be set up so that people can challenge the decisions of these officials.

Published – 7 Oct 2026 21:04 IST