Bengal SIR tribunals dispose 6,581 appeals, restore 4,043 voter names

MP, May 23, 2026, Kolkata : Appellate tribunals constituted to hear grievances arising out of West Bengal’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls have so far disposed of 6,581 appeals, with more than 61 per cent of the decided cases resulting in restoration of names to the voter list, according to Election Commission data available till May 14.

The figures showed that 4,043 appeals were allowed by 12 of the 19 tribunals currently functioning across the state, while 1,267 were rejected.

The status of more than 1,200 other disposed matters was not immediately clear from the data.

Nearly 25 lakh appeals had been filed against decisions taken during the revision exercise, meaning only around 0.26 per cent of the total cases have been disposed of so far.

The tribunals were set up on March 20 following Supreme Court directions to create an appellate mechanism for complaints linked to the revision process.

Kolkata North and Kolkata South accounted for the highest number of disposals, with 1,777 appeals decided between the two electoral districts — around 27 per cent of the total cases disposed of so far.

However, more than 51,000 appeals remain pending in the two districts.

The tribunal dealing with Kolkata North and South was headed by former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, who resigned on May 7 citing personal reasons.

Murshidabad and Malda, among the districts that recorded a high number of deletions and appeals during the SIR exercise, reported comparatively low disposal figures.

Murshidabad disposed of only 112 appeals despite receiving over 6.29 lakh pleas, while Malda recorded 185 disposals against more than 5.26 lakh appeals.

Election Commission officials said hearings were being conducted through both online and offline modes, although physical appearances remained limited.

Officials added that the number of disposed appeals has now risen to nearly 10,000, though updated official figures are yet to be released.

“The appellate process follows Supreme Court directives, and every effort is being made to ensure eligible electors receive an opportunity to present their cases,” an EC official told the media.

More than 27 lakh names were deleted from electoral rolls ahead of the assembly elections held on April 23 and 29 following the verification exercise carried out during the SIR process..