Appeals window delay leaves deleted voters anxious as EC deadline clock ticks in Bengal
Telegraph | 28 March 2026
The Election Commission has yet to open the online window for appeals by voters whose names were struck off the electoral roll after adjudication.
The EC published the first supplementary list on Monday night, with names of cleared and deleted voters. However, only a small number of people have been able to access the list relevant to them. Among those who have managed to check, several found their names deleted and are now concerned about the delay in the appeals process.
The poll panel had earlier said that appeals must be filed within 15 days of the list’s publication. With more than four days already gone, many voters are unsure whether they will have enough time to submit their appeals once the online application window opens.
Hasir Mallick, 61, a voter from Uttarpara in Hooghly, is among those whose names were removed after adjudication. Keen to challenge the decision, Mallick said he has been checking the EC’s website regularly for updates on the appeal process.
“The list of deleted voters says we have to appeal within 15 days. The supplementary list was published on Monday night. It is already Friday evening,” he said.
An official in the office of Bengal’s chief electoral officer said voters would be given “adequate time” for appeals. “The 15-day deadline will be counted from the day the online link becomes active. Until then, those affected can apply to district magistrates and district election officers (DEOs).”
But uncertainty persists. Mallick said he has been growing increasingly tense with each passing day. “There are three others, besides me, whose names were deleted in the part of the Assembly constituency where I live,” he said.
Mallick has also decided to file Form 6 (the application for inclusion of a first-time voter in the electoral roll). “I want to file the appeal because that is what we are supposed to do. I have been a voter for so many years,” he said.
Poll panel sources said that around 41% of the 29 lakh voters marked “under adjudication” may have been deleted until Monday, although exact figures for inclusions and deletions are not yet available. More than 60.06 lakh voters were under adjudication when the post-SIR electoral roll was published on February 28.
To hear the appeals, the EC has set up 19 appellate tribunals in Bengal. These tribunals will hear grievances from voters aggrieved by decisions taken by judicial officers during the adjudication process.
The move follows a March 10 directive from the Supreme Court, which asked Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul to constitute special appellate tribunals comprising former high court judges to examine such appeals.
District election officers said many deleted voters had submitted written appeals. “I am unaware when online appeals against adjudication decisions will begin. We have started receiving physical applications from deleted voters,” said one DEO.
The EC has indicated that these applications will be digitised and uploaded to a portal accessible to judges who will be part of the appellate tribunals, a district magistrate and DEO said.
“As of now, there is no prescribed format for filing appeals. We are asking people to submit handwritten applications along with the necessary documents. These will be forwarded to retired high court judges who will hear the cases,” said another DEO.
Sources in the office of Bengal’s CEO said on Friday that it was difficult to specify when the application window will open. “Discussions are ongoing between the EC and Calcutta High Court regarding the modalities and features of the online appeals system. Once they are finalised, the online link will be made available,” one official said.