Overview of West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision Impact
Recent data from a Right to Information (RTI) response has revealed that only a fraction of the appeals filed against voter exclusions in West Bengal have been resolved. As of August 7, 2026, merely 2% of the 3.8 million appeals submitted by voters removed from the electoral rolls during West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) have been adjudicated by the appellate tribunals. This information was disclosed following a query made by Congress Member of Parliament Isha Khan Choudhury.
Details of the Appellate Decisions
The RTI response indicates that of the appeals that have been decided, 75,443 resulted in voters being reinstated to the electoral roll, while 7,339 appeals led to further exclusions. This translates to an inclusion rate of 91.13% among resolved cases. However, a significant backlog remains, with 97.83% of appeals still awaiting a decision. This means that only one in every 46 appeals has been addressed, highlighting the slow pace of the tribunals.
Supreme Court’s Involvement
The matter was brought before the Supreme Court, where Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, instructed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to submit detailed information on the pending appeals. The details requested include the nature of the relief sought in these appeals. The Court is examining the functioning of the SIR appellate tribunals and the massive reduction in the electoral roll from 7.6 million voters in 2024 to 6.44 million by early 2026.
Gender and District-wise Electoral Roll Reduction
The electoral roll reduction affected both male and female voters, with male electors decreasing by 15.03% and female electors by 15.39%. Third-gender voters saw a more drastic decline of 35.14%. The districts of Kolkata South and Maldah experienced the highest reductions of over 30%. On the other hand, Purba Medinipur saw the smallest decline at 3.97%.
Pending Appeals and Supreme Court Orders
In a plea by Congress member Prasenjit Bose, it was reported that the SIR exercise led to the deletion of over 9 million electors, with 2.7 million names removed after adjudication. The Supreme Court previously directed the establishment of 19 appellate tribunals to handle these cases. Despite this directive, only about 700,000 of the 2.7 million affected voters have appealed. The Supreme Court’s April 13 order recorded that over 3.4 million appeals were filed, including those by objectors challenging voter inclusions.
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Call for Detailed Breakdown of Appeals
The petitioner, Prasenjit Bose, has requested a comprehensive breakdown of the pending appeals, identifying whether they were filed by electors, ECI officials, or other objectors. This request aims to clarify the categories of appeals and address the concerns raised by the massive voter roll revision in West Bengal.
