पश्चिम बंगाल में 37 लाख मतदाता सूची अपीलें अभी भी लंबित, चुनाव आयोग ने सुप्रीम कोर्ट को बताया

37 lakh appeals against electoral roll changes still pending in Bengal, EC tells SC

The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that over 37 lakh electoral roll appeals in West Bengal are still pending. The huge backlog has intensified the court's push for faster tribunal hearings and clearer disposal of data.

The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that more than 37 lakh appeals against the deletion or inclusion of names in West Bengal's electoral rolls under the Special Intensive Revision remain pending. In its response affidavit, the poll panel said tribunals appointed following the apex court's directions have disposed of only about 1.02 lakh of the 38.20 lakh appeals filed so far.

The case is being heard on a plea filed by Prasenjit Bose, chairperson of the SIR committee of the West Bengal Congress, seeking Assembly constituency-wise data on claims and objections filed by voters whose names were deleted during the exercise. On July 17, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana entertained the plea and sought the Election Commission's response.

In its affidavit, the Election Commission said 38,20,683 appeals had been filed against orders relating to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Of these, 1,02,231 appeals had been disposed of, leaving 37,18,452 pending. The affidavit, however, did not provide a break-up of appeals filed by electors whose names were deleted and those filed against the inclusion of names in the electoral rolls.

Bose had said in his petition that more than 58 lakh electors were excluded during the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal. He said 9.64 lakh applications for inclusion through Forms 6 and 6A, and over 99,000 applications for deletion through Form 7, were received during the claims and objections phase. However, only around 1.82 lakh additions were reflected in the final electoral roll published on February 28, the petition said.

On August 25, the top court directed the Election Commission to submit data on the pendency and disposal of appeals before tribunals challenging exclusion or inclusion in electoral rolls. Observing that the appeals needed to be decided in a time-bound manner, the bench asked the poll panel to explain what steps were being taken to streamline the disposal mechanism and how many additional tribunals were required.

Data submitted by the Election Commission showed that 34.13 lakh Form 6 applications were filed between December 17, 2025, when the draft electoral roll was published, and August 7, 2026. Form 6 is the statutory application for inclusion of a name in the electoral roll. The figure includes applications from first-time applicants as well as electors whose names had been deleted during the draft-stage revision.

On April 24, the apex court asked appellate tribunals to give out-of-turn hearings to those seeking urgent relief against deletion from electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision. Around 700 judicial officers from West Bengal and neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand were deployed to deal with nearly 60 lakh claims and objections. Later, on the top court's direction, the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court set up 19 tribunals headed by former high court chief justices and judges to decide the appeals.

The matter before the Supreme Court centres on the large number of pending appeals linked to the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal, with the Election Commission placing updated figures on record and the court pressing for a faster process to decide challenges to exclusion and inclusion in the electoral rolls.

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