West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday expressed her “extreme happiness” after the Supreme Court order regarding appellate tribunals and relaxation of earlier ban on voter lists. Despite the decision, the Election Commission (EC) is yet to clarify the position regarding the operational procedures of the 19 tribunals that began functioning earlier this week.
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The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that people cleared by appellate tribunals for inclusion in the electoral rolls at least two days before polling will be entitled to vote in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, bringing a significant relief to the earlier freeze on electoral rolls and providing relief to many people stuck in the ongoing special intensive vetting exercise.
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Banerjee told reporters in Cooch Behar, “I got the good news immediately after boarding the helicopter. I am asking the people (whose names were removed after the verdict) to be patient and appeal before the tribunal. Today or tomorrow their names will be recorded. I am very happy. No one is happier than me today.”
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He further said, “Today the Supreme Court has ordered that the first supplementary list (which includes the names of voters whose cases have been disposed of by the Appellate Tribunal) for the first phase of voting will be published on April 21. The second list for the second phase of voting will be published on April 27. Immediately after the list is published, TMC leaders and workers will take printouts of the voters’ slips and distribute them so that these people can vote.”
Under the apex court’s directions, appellate tribunals will have to decide on appeals by April 21 for the first phase of voting to be held on April 23 and by April 27 for the second phase of voting to be held on April 29. If the appeal is allowed within this window, the voter’s name must be restored through a supplementary list, allowing them to cast their vote. This development assumes significance as the electoral rolls for the first and second phases were frozen on April 6 and April 9 respectively, effectively disqualifying those whose claims were not decided in time. At that time, the tribunals were barely functional and had approved only two names.
However, despite judicial relief, the ECI has struggled to provide transparency regarding the operation of tribunals. With only five days left until the first cut-off date, questions remain about public hearings and the volume of cases processed.
Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal, said, “Appellate tribunals have started functioning. Altogether 19 retired judges are working. We do not have exact figures as to how many cases have been disposed of as the dashboard has not been set up yet.”
Election Commission officials also could not provide any clarity on whether the tribunal would hold any public hearing for the 2.7 million voters whose names were removed from the list after the decision.
Reacting to the matter, BJP state president Samik Bhattacharya said, “We did not conduct the SIR. It is the domain of the Election Commission. However, the Election Commission did not hear several Form 7 submissions from the BJP (which challenged the inclusion of dead and fake voters). With due respect to the Election Commission, we are not satisfied with the functioning of the Election Commission.”