Kolkata, 01 April (H.S.): The judicial scrutiny process of cases classified under the “logical discrepancy” category in West Bengal’s electoral roll verification exercise has gathered pace, with more than 78 per cent of the cases already disposed of and around 1.3 million still pending.

Officials said on Wednesday that more than 700 judicial officers are currently engaged in the process, including nearly 100 officers each from Jharkhand and Odisha. According to a source in the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), the remaining process is expected to be completed within this week if the current pace continues.

Sources said that as of Tuesday night, scrutiny had been completed in about 4.7 million cases. However, the exact number of names to be deleted from the voters’ list is yet to be specified. Officials indicated that on average, nearly 40 per cent of the names in the disposed cases are being recommended for deletion.

Voters whose names are removed through this process will have the right to appeal the decision. For this purpose, 19 appellate tribunals have been constituted where affected individuals can file their appeals.

Notably, the final electoral roll was published on February 28 after keeping aside 6,000,675 cases that were referred for judicial scrutiny. As per Supreme Court directions, supplementary voter lists are to be published from time to time depending on the progress of the scrutiny process.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India has suspended Sayantan Bhattacharya, the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Hanskhali in Nadia district, with immediate effect following an incident of violence at a poll training centre.

According to reports, a teacher and polling officer, Saikat Chatterjee, was allegedly assaulted by Trinamool Congress supporters during a training programme after he objected to the screening of a political campaign video.

The Election Commission had sought a detailed report on the matter, following which an FIR was also registered at the local police station. Based on the report submitted by the CEO’s office, the Commission decided to place the concerned officer under suspension.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh