New Delhi, Aug. 26 -- Nearly 3.1 million of the 3.81 million appeals pending before West Bengal's appellate tribunals set up after the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls are seeking the exclusion of names from the rolls, rather than challenging the deletion of voters, the Supreme Court was told on Tuesday. The data, contained in a Right to Information (RTI) response furnished to Congress lawmaker Isha Khan Choudhury, showed that only around 700,000 appeals were filed by voters challenging their exclusion from the electoral rolls. The remaining appeals have been filed by persons or entities objecting to the inclusion of names, according to the information placed before the court. The disclosure prompted the Supreme Court to seek a detailed break-up of the pending appeals and their disposal, observing that appeals by persons excluded from the rolls may need prioritisation since their right to vote is immediately affected. A bench, comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, also indicated that the entire exercise of deciding the appeals should be completed well before the next parliamentary elections in 2029. SIR appellate tribunals comprise former chief justices and judges of high courts and were constituted to hear challenges to decisions taken by judicial officers who adjudicated claims and objections in the revision process. The RTI response showed that as on August 7, a total of 3,810,620 appeals had been submitted before the appellate tribunals across West Bengal. Of these, 75,443 appeals had resulted in the inclusion of names in the electoral rolls, while 7,339 had resulted in exclusion. This means that of the 82,782 appeals whose outcomes had been recorded, more than 91% resulted in the inclusion of names in the electoral rolls. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for a petitioner seeking expeditious disposal of appeals against exclusion, placed the RTI response before the bench and said the figures showed that the tribunals were being burdened by a large number of appeals seeking deletion of voters. "The lion's share of appeals seeking disenfranchisement can't burden this Tribunal in priority. Let the Tribunals prioritise those who were excluded," Sankaranarayanan submitted. He said the disposal data showed that a large majority of the appeals decided so far had resulted in restoration or inclusion of names in the electoral rolls. The bench took note of the unusual distribution of appeals, as it observed that a "very large chunk" of the appeals were for inclusion-related objections. Sankaranarayanan suggested that the tribunals should first take up the appeals filed by persons who had been excluded from the rolls, leaving challenges to inclusions to be dealt with through remedies available under the Representation of the People Act. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner Prasenjit Bose, supported the plea for expediting such appeals and sought a fixed schedule for their disposal. The application, filed through advocate Neha Rathi, also demanded a time-bound schedule for disposal of all appeals against exclusion in the wake of upcoming municipal polls in the eastern state....