The Election Commission has informed the Supreme Court that more than 37 lakh appeals concerning the modifications made to the electoral rolls in West Bengal remain unresolved. This information was provided in an affidavit, which stated that, of the 38.20 lakh appeals submitted regarding the Special Intensive Revision, only approximately 1.02 lakh have been addressed by the established tribunals. The matter is under scrutiny following a petition put forth by Prasenjit Bose, who serves as chairperson of the Special Intensive Revision committee of the West Bengal Congress.

Details of Appeals Filed and Pending

In its affidavit, the Election Commission detailed that a total of 38,20,683 appeals were lodged against decisions related to the electoral roll revisions. The tribunal system has managed to process 1,02,231 of these appeals, resulting in 37,18,452 still pending. However, the affidavit did not specify the division between appeals concerning the deletion of names and those requesting the inclusion of names in the electoral roll.

Bose’s petition highlighted the exclusion of over 58 lakh electors during the enumeration phase of the Special Intensive Revision. He pointed out that during the claims and objections phase, there were 9.64 lakh applications for name inclusion via Forms 6 and 6A, along with more than 99,000 requests for deletion through Form 7. Yet, only about 1.82 lakh additions were ultimately reflected in the official electoral roll published on February 28.

On August 25, the Supreme Court instructed the Election Commission to furnish data regarding the number of pending and disposed appeals concerning exclusion and inclusion in the electoral rolls. The court stressed the necessity for timely decisions on these appeals and questioned what measures the Election Commission was implementing to expedite the process and how many more tribunals might be required to manage the workload effectively.

Data Submitted by the Election Commission

According to the data released by the Election Commission, between December 17, 2025, when the draft electoral roll was published, and August 7, 2026, there were 34.13 lakh applications submitted using Form 6, which is the official application for including names in the electoral roll. This number includes applications from first-time voters as well as those whose names were removed during the revision process.

On April 24, the apex court directed that appellate tribunals should prioritise urgent cases for those contesting their removal from electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision. Approximately 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, alongside officials from neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand, were allocated to handle nearly 60 lakh claims and objections effectively. In response to the Supreme Court’s instruction, the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court established 19 tribunals managed by former high court chief justices and judges to adjudicate the appeals more efficiently.

This ongoing case in the Supreme Court highlights the significant backlog of unresolved appeals related to the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal. The Election Commission’s submissions are being evaluated as the court calls for an expedited process to resolve the challenges concerning exclusion and inclusion in the electoral rolls.

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