Kolkata, Aug. 25 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought from the Election Commission of India (ECI) details of voters deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in 31 West Bengal Assembly constituencies where deletions exceeded the BJP's winning margin over the Trinamool Congress, besides directing the poll panel to furnish a break-up of the 38.1 lakh pending SIR appeals and indicating that appeals by excluded voters may be prioritised.

Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandhopadhyay, appearing for a Trinamool Congress member, told the court that in 31 Assembly constituencies, deletions exceeded the BJP's winning margin over the Trinamool Congress. In one constituency, he said, the margin was 401 votes against 8,785 deletions. The bench sought details of appeals from these constituencies and election petitions, but said its concern was the entire backlog and stressed the need for expeditious disposal.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan told a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana that around 31 lakh appeals challenged the inclusion of voters, while only about seven lakh were filed by persons excluded after the SIR exercise.

Citing an RTI reply furnished to Congress MP Isha Khan Choudhary, he said that of around 83,000 exclusion appeals decided so far, more than 75,000 had resulted in voters being restored to the rolls. He urged the court to prioritise exclusion appeals, particularly from constituencies going to civic polls, arguing that those objecting to inclusions had remedies under the Representation of the People Act.

The bench asked the ECI to file an affidavit giving the total number of pending appeals; a break-up between appeals by excluded persons and those challenging inclusions; the number disposed of and the relief sought; the number allowed and consequential steps taken to update the rolls. The Commission must also state whether additional tribunals are needed and what measures have been taken to speed up disposal.

Justice Bagchi said the break-up could help the court consider prioritisation, observing that exclusion immediately affects a person's rights.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.