Kolkata, 26 March (H.S.) : The Election Commission of India has announced that judicial adjudication has been completed in 32 lakh cases identified under the “logical discrepancy” category as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

According to sources in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, this accounts for nearly 53 per cent of the total 60 lakh cases referred for judicial scrutiny so far. Of the 32 lakh cases disposed of, around 40 per cent, approximately 12 lakh 80 thousand voters, have been found excludable.

However, individuals marked as excludable will have the opportunity to seek relief by approaching any of the 19 Appellate Tribunals constituted across the state for this purpose. The adjudication process is currently being carried out by more than 700 judicial officers, including 100 each from neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand.

It may be recalled that in the final electoral roll published on February 28, excluding the 60 lakh cases under adjudication, a total of 63 lakh 66 thousand 952 names had already been deleted. With an additional 12 lakh 80 thousand names now identified as excludable through the adjudication process, the total number of deletions has risen to approximately 77 lakh.

Prior to the issuance of the SIR notification in November, the total number of voters in West Bengal stood at seven crore 66 lakh 37 thousand 529. In the draft electoral roll published in December, 58 lakh 20 thousand 899 names were removed, which increased to 63 lakh 66 thousand 952 in the final list released in February.

Meanwhile, addressing an election rally in North Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Commission, alleging that the revision exercise was unnecessarily harassing the people of the state and disproportionately targeting tribal and backward communities.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh