Kolkata, 10 February (H.S.) :

The final voter list under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal will be published on February 28, the Election Commission announced on Tuesday while releasing a revised schedule for the exercise. The decision was taken after the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, held a meeting with the Commission at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi.

Earlier, following directions from the Supreme Court on Monday, the timeline for the SIR process in West Bengal was extended. The apex court granted an additional seven days for scrutiny and clarified that the final decision in this regard would rest with the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs). The court also made it clear that micro observers have no authority to take decisions in the SIR process.

In view of the Supreme Court’s order, the Election Commission had already indicated that the publication of the final voter list would be delayed. A formal notification to this effect has now been issued. It may be recalled that the State CEO had earlier written to the Commission seeking an extension of the hearing period.

According to sources in the Election Commission, with the additional seven days granted for scrutiny, hearings related to the SIR process will conclude by February 14. The scrutiny of documents will then continue until February 21. Although the Commission had earlier announced that the final voter list would be published on February 14, the revised schedule has pushed the date further by a week, fixing February 28 for its release.

The Election Commission stated that the additional time has been provided to ensure that EROs and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) are able to thoroughly verify all documents and take final decisions, thereby ensuring that the voter list is transparent and free from errors.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh