Judges handling appeals against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal have repeatedly raised concerns over the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Aadhaar authentication requirement, saying it is holding up the issuance of final orders, according to a report by The Indian Express.
Official records cited by the newspaper show that the judges approached the poll panel over the issue twice within a span of less than a month. The objections concern an authentication screen introduced on the Commission’s portal that judges need to use while uploading orders on appeals. Three days after the screen was introduced on September 21, the judges wrote to the ECI on September 24, asking it to remove the requirement. The issue remained unresolved, prompting the in-charge of the appellate tribunals to write to the Commission again on October 13, urging it to fix the problem so that the tribunals could upload their final orders without disruption.
The concerns come as the tribunals face a large backlog of appeals arising from the voter roll revision exercise. Apart from the portal-related difficulties, the judges have also complained about the conditions in which the tribunals are operating.
In a letter dated October 1, ten judges informed the Election Commission and the Calcutta High Court about cramped office space and inadequate facilities. According to The Indian Express, they said they were working in rooms measuring approximately 12 by 10 square feet, often alongside seven or eight staff members.
The judges also reported shortages of stationery and a lack of access to washrooms. They sought a twofold increase in their honorarium, stating that the existing payment of Rs 25,000 was not commensurate with the dignity of their office.
The complaints add to the administrative challenges facing the tribunals, which have been tasked with hearing appeals from voters affected by the SIR exercise in the state. The scale of the pending cases has prompted the Election Commission to seek an expansion of the appellate mechanism.
In September, the ECI asked the Supreme Court to increase the number of tribunals hearing SIR-related appeals in West Bengal from 19 to 42. The proposal was intended to speed up the disposal of cases involving the inclusion or exclusion of names from electoral rolls.
According to figures cited in the report, around 38.20 lakh appeals had been filed, while the 19 tribunals had disposed of only 1.02 lakh cases in the six months since they began functioning. In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the Commission proposed increasing the number of tribunals to match the state’s 42 parliamentary constituencies.
The ECI said the expansion would help streamline proceedings and clear the pending appeals more quickly. The Commission made the request in response to a petition filed by Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien, who has challenged the SIR process in West Bengal.
The revision exercise has triggered disputes over electoral roll changes and the appeals mechanism available to those seeking the inclusion or restoration of their names.
The tribunals are responsible for deciding appeals arising from the exercise. However, the judges’ complaints over the Aadhaar verification system, office facilities and administrative support point to difficulties in handling the workload. With millions of appeals filed and a limited number of cases disposed of so far, the functioning of the tribunals remains a key issue in the implementation of the voter roll revision process in West Bengal.
This article was prepared with AI assistance and is based on information available in the public domain.
