Completion of Judicial Review for 67% of West Bengal Voters
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Kolkata, Mar 29 (NationPress) The judicial review process for 40 lakh voters, representing approximately 67 percent of over 60 lakh voters, referred for adjudication due to being categorized under the "logical discrepancy category", has been successfully concluded as of Sunday evening, according to a source from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's (CEO) office.
Out of the 40 lakh cases that have undergone judicial review, around 18 lakh have been deemed eligible for exclusion.
This indicates that nearly 45 percent of the cases processed have been found eligible for removal from the voters' list.
Individuals identified as eligible for exclusion during the judicial review process can appeal to one of the 19 Appellate Tribunals set up for this purpose.
The final voters' list for West Bengal, which excludes the 60 lakh cases under judicial review, was officially published on February 28.
It was agreed to release supplementary lists as the adjudication advances.
Prior to the issuance of the notification for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in November last year, the total voter count in the state was 7,66,37,529.
In the draft voters' list released in December, 58,20,899 names were removed.
The final list published on February 28 reflected an increase in deletions to 63,66,952.
It remains to be seen what the final deletion count will be once the judicial adjudication process concludes.
An official from the CEO's office reported that, based on the current pace of proceedings, the judicial review is expected to wrap up within this week.
Currently, over 700 judicial officers, including 100 from neighboring states Odisha and Jharkhand, are diligently working to expedite the judicial adjudication.
The two-phase Assembly elections in West Bengal are scheduled for April 23 and April 29.
The first phase will cover 152 Assembly constituencies, while the second phase will include the remaining 142 Assembly constituencies.
Election results for both phases will be announced on May 4.