The fate of 2.3 million deleted voters hangs in the balance as tribunals have yet to begin their work

KOLKATA: The fate of over 2.3 million voters in Bengal who were left out of the electoral rolls following SIR hangs in the balance as the appeal tribunal did not start functioning till Saturday. Monday is the last day for voters to judge in the first phase of voting in 152 constituencies. For these voters, the courts are the last hope after their first appeal was rejected during a judicial review process.The first phase of elections is scheduled to take place on April 23, with the deadline for submitting nominations closing on April 6 at 3pm. According to the rules of the Election Commission, the voters’ list can be published before the last date for submission of nominations. As a result, electoral rolls for constituencies due to vote on April 23 will be frozen until 3pm on Monday.As of Thursday, about 5.2 million of the more than 6 million cases marked “under adjudication” had been processed, according to a senior European Commission official. “More than 700 judicial officers have been appointed to handle 60,06,475 doubtful and pending cases marked as ‘under adjudication’ in the electoral rolls. They started working on February 24 and by April 2, around 52 lakh cases were processed. 55 per cent of the cases processed so far have been approved and the names have been added to the electoral rolls.” 45% of the dismissed cases have been excluded from the list and they can appeal online or offline against the order issued by the judicial officer to the Appellate Tribunal within 15 days. “A European Commission official said.Taking into account the 45% rejection rate, 23.4 million people have so far lost their right to vote during judicial decisions and are eligible to appeal to the Court of Appeal. However, the infrastructure required by the retired judges who are expected to preside over court proceedings is yet to be put in place. This casts doubt on whether the adjudication process can begin within the stipulated time, raising concerns about the fate of 2.34 million voters.Government offices continued to rush to file appeals on Saturday despite uncertainty over whether the courts would be able to begin operating on Monday. However, many people were rejected and asked to return with the documents they had submitted during the SIR census phase.Officials on Friday cited “government holidays” and “other poll-related duties” as reasons for not accepting the appeal. Voters were reportedly told on Saturday that their requests could not be processed because they did not bring supporting documentation for their formal applications.This is despite a senior European Commission official saying last month that those submitting offline appeals would not need additional documentation.Meanwhile, around 8,000 appeals have been filed under Section 24 of the Representation of People Act and these appeals have been submitted to the district magistrate concerned for necessary action, the CEO’s office said in a release on Saturday.