West Bengal SIR tribunals face vacancies amid massive electoral roll appeal backlog

The Election Commission (EC) is awaiting names of retired judges from the Calcutta High Court to fill vacancies in at least three of the 19 Special Intensive Revision (SIR) appellate tribunals in West Bengal. These tribunals were established following Supreme Court directions to resolve disputes arising from the SIR exercise of electoral rolls.

A massive backlog of approximately 38.3 lakh appeals exists, consisting of 22.2 lakh challenges to voter deletions and 16.1 lakh contests regarding voter inclusions. With only about 1.02 lakh cases resolved so far, petitioners have warned the Supreme Court that clearing the backlog at the current rate could take more than 12 years.

The situation is particularly urgent for the upcoming municipal elections in Kolkata and Howrah, expected in late November. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear matters regarding roll revisions on October 16, with a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant considering prioritizing appeals for voter inclusion to prevent mass disenfranchisement.