Election Commission’s appeals against 16.10 lakh cleared voters raise legal questions

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. File | Photo Credit: PTI A little over 16 lakh electors in West Bengal whose names had been cleared by judicial officers after being flagged for logical discrepancies during the West Bengal SIR had found themselves back in the crosshairs when the Election Commission of India (ECI) filed appeals against the inclusion of their names. In its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on October 26, the Election Commission of India said that the appeals were not brought to its notice earlier and that a communication dated October 22, 2026, was received from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, stating that its officials had filed the appeals in their capacity as authorities under the Act. According to Congress leader Prasenjit Bose, one of the petitioners in the West Bengal SIR case in the top court, these “officers of the office of the CEO” who have filed appeals against inclusion in the Appellate Tribunals cannot have any authority under the Act since the Tribunals were created by the Supreme Court in April 2026 and the Act says nothing about any tribunal. On Thursday (October 29, 2026), the Congress, in a memorandum submitted to the CEO of West Bengal, demanded that the appeals against inclusion filed by the ECI be cancelled, as they violated the Act. The Appellate Tribunals were formed during the Supreme Court’s supervision of the SIR. Judicial officers, drawn from a list the Calcutta High Court sent at the Supreme Court’s direction, are adjudicating roughly 60 lakh “doubtful and pending” cases. These began functioning around April 13, and on April 16, the Supreme Court ordered that voters whose appeals succeeded be added through a supplementary list. Published - October 30, 2026 10:09 pm IST Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls / Election Commission of India / West Bengal Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences.