West Bengal SIR: Could an administrative route ease the tribunal backlog?

Could more than 22 lakh voters in West Bengal whose appeals against deletion from electoral rolls are pending before tribunals get an opportunity to have their cases resolved through an administrative process instead of time-consuming judicial proceedings?

The question has come into focus after booth-level officers (BLOs) were verbally instructed to prepare lists of these voters, raising questions about whether electoral officials could eventually be asked to scrutinise their cases.

BLOs await clarity on appeals

Swapan Mandal, general secretary of Vote Karmi O BLO Aikya Mancha, an organisation representing BLOs, told The Federal that Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) had given the instructions during recent training sessions, asking BLOs to compile lists of voters whose appeals against deletion during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) were pending before tribunals.

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The instruction led some BLOs to believe that the Election Commission might seek the court’s permission to allow electoral officials to scrutinise the pending cases and decide whether voters’ names should be restored, instead of leaving the decisions to the tribunals.

The possibility gained further traction after the West Bengal chief electoral officer’s office separately sought clarification from the poll panel on whether voters whose appeals are pending before tribunals can apply for fresh enrolment.

The scale of the backlog and the slow pace of disposal have added urgency to the question. Nineteen tribunals are currently hearing appeals arising from the SIR in West Bengal, where 38.3 lakh appeals have been filed against decisions on inclusion and exclusion from the electoral rolls.

Appeals backlog could take decades

Of the 38.3 lakh appeals, 22.2 lakh seek inclusion, according to figures submitted by the commission to the Supreme Court.

The Election Commission has itself told the Supreme Court that the number of tribunals needs to be increased from 19 to 42 to expedite the disposal of the cases.

Moreover, the tribunals are themselves under strain. Retired Calcutta High Court judge Indrajit Chatterjee recently sought to resign from his tribunal, citing poor road conditions and a four-hour daily commute to its Joka office. Former Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam had also resigned from a tribunal in May, saying it would take four years to clear the appeals assigned to him from Kolkata at the prevailing pace.

Judges have also flagged technical problems with the commission’s digital portal that are slowing proceedings.

At the current rate of disposal, clearing the backlog could take more than a decade, with an earlier estimate putting the timeline at over 25 years.

Fresh drive raises legal questions

“As the tribunals grapple with the backlog, the question of an alternative administrative route to decide the fate of these voters has become imperative,” said Ranjit Sur, vice-president of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR).

The issue gained renewed currency after the commission launched a door-to-door drive to identify eligible voters left out during the SIR and facilitate their enrolment through Form 6, the application for new voter registration.

Also read | EC’s SIR relief bypasses 22 lakh Bengal voters trapped in tribunal backlog

BLOs have been asked to identify eligible people missing from the current rolls and help them apply for inclusion. However, the instructions did not make clear how the drive would apply to voters whose appeals against deletion were already pending before tribunals.

The West Bengal CEO’s office verbally sought clarification from the Election Commission on the issue after BLOs raised questions during a training session with EROs earlier this week.

The CEO’s office sought clarification because the prevailing understanding is that cases decided by judicial officers, as well as appeals pending before tribunals, cannot be adjudicated by electoral registration officers or district election officers, as they are already sub judice, official sources said.

Form 6 leaves questions unanswered

The understanding is based on the Supreme Court's March 10 order, which directed the creation of appellate tribunals and made clear that decisions by judicial officers could not be appealed before executive or administrative authorities.

This means any move to have electoral officials scrutinise cases already before the tribunals would require the commission to seek appropriate directions from the court, sources added.

The CEO’s office said the objective of the special drive was to identify and facilitate the enrolment of eligible voters who had been left out. It said that anyone not enrolled in the electoral roll, or whose name has been deleted, can apply for enrolment at any time.

The clarification, however, has not resolved the specific question of whether voters whose appeals are pending before tribunals can use Form 6 to seek inclusion while awaiting a judicial decision.

The delay in deciding the fate of eligible voters disfranchised by the SIR could have consequences for voters hoping to participate in the municipal elections expected in Kolkata, Howrah and five other municipalities in the last week of November.

BLOs seek security amid voter anger

More than 85,000 voters in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area alone have appeals pending before tribunals.

The Supreme Court is due to hear on October 16 a plea seeking priority hearings for voters whose names were deleted, with petitioners arguing that the cases need to be decided before the municipal elections.

Also read | Months after Bengal SIR, BLOs await dues; no ex-gratia for kin of dead

Mandal said BLOs had also received verbal instructions that voters who shifted to another constituency after the SIR should not be included in the enrolment list at their new addresses. The instruction could mean that voters seeking to update their constituency details ahead of the municipal polls will be unable to do so.

The fresh drive, meanwhile, has also raised security concerns among field officials.

Mandal said BLOs in eight districts and parts of Kolkata, where large numbers of voters were deleted, had sought protection because they feared hostility from residents aggrieved by their exclusion.

Some were reluctant to undertake the door-to-door exercise without assurances of security, he said.