Supreme Court Seeks Response from Election Commission on Pending Appeals in West Bengal

The Supreme Court has requested the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, and the state government to address concerns related to the 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) process. These concerns include the fate of approximately 3.4 million pending appeals and allegations that individuals whose names have been removed from the voter list are not receiving welfare benefits. A bench comprising the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohan issued a notice in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Prasenjit Bose, the chairman of the SIR committee of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. The petition calls for improvements in the appeal process before the tribunal, disclosure of necessary data, publication of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) being followed by the tribunal, and the establishment of a timeline for resolving appeals.

Senior Advocate Gopal Shankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, informed the court that nearly 3.4 million appeals are pending before the appellate tribunal, with only 38,000 having been heard to date. He argued that given these figures, it is imperative for the court to issue directives to enhance the efficiency of the appeal process. Shankaranarayanan also noted that approximately 70 percent of the appeals heard by the tribunal have been approved, indicating the need to establish a minimum threshold for essential documents to expedite case resolutions. He further mentioned that the Supreme Court had previously instructed the tribunal to create an SOP for handling SIR appeals, but this SOP has not been made public.

He expressed serious concerns regarding the backlog of over 4 million appeals. The lawyer raised practical issues regarding the tribunal's operations, noting that there are 19 tribunals, two of which have seen judges resign. He pointed out the absence of a formal website and the failure to upload tribunal orders, leading to confusion and delays. Shankaranarayanan stated that individuals with pending cases cannot reference other cases as examples. There is uncertainty regarding which SOP is being followed. The Chief Justice clarified that while the tribunals are under the oversight of the Calcutta High Court, they are not administratively controlled by it, and the High Court is assisting them.