The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it cannot set a timeline for appellate tribunals hearing challenges to deletions from electoral rolls in West Bengal during the special intensive revision, Live Law reported.

However, the court asked the Election Commission to provide details of cases disposed of and pending before the tribunals.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant was hearing a petition filed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury seeking speedy disposal of cases related to the voter roll revision exercise.

On July 8, the Calcutta High Court verbally observed that pending appeals against voter deletions under the special intensive revision process would take “21 years…if appellate tribunals function at the current pace”.

The special intensive revision of voter rolls in West Bengal was carried out before the Assembly elections in April.

Final rolls published in February initially excluded more than 61 lakh voters, with the process continuing through supplementary lists and adjudication of about 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases.

By April 6, about 91 lakh voters, nearly 11.9% of West Bengal’s electorate before the revision process began, had been removed from the electoral rolls.

Ahead of the Assembly elections, about 34 lakh appeals were reportedly pending before appellate tribunals. Of these, 27 lakh were filed by persons who were excluded from the voter list. The tribunals, set up as part of the special intensive revision process, had allowed 1,607 names to be added back to the electoral rolls.

Edited by Tanya Shrivastava.

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