Kolkata, February 24 – As the process of judicial review of voter documents identified under the "logical discrepancy" category in West Bengal, which is heading towards elections, began, the judicial officers appointed in four districts near the India-Bangladesh border have sought special security after experiencing security breaches.
The judicial review process began on Monday, as directed by the Supreme Court last week.
These four districts are Malda, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, and South 24 Parganas, all of which share international borders with Bangladesh, with South 24 Parganas primarily having a coastal border.
Sources from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal said that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has taken note of the concerns of these judicial officers and has directed the state police administration to ensure their complete security.
Meanwhile, of the 50 lakh voter documents identified under the "logical discrepancy" category that have been referred for judicial review, the majority are in the Murshidabad district. However, the exact figure has not yet been disclosed by the Commission.
The judicial officers appointed for the voter document review process have been instructed to state the reason for "acceptance" or "rejection" of each document referred to them for review, a source from the CEO's office confirmed.
At the same time, the judicial officers will also submit daily progress reports to the Calcutta High Court on the status of the review process.
According to the current schedule, the final electoral roll in West Bengal is scheduled to be published on February 28, excluding cases referred for judicial review.
Supplementary electoral rolls will be published after the review process is completed, incorporating eligible voters cleared through judicial verification.
Officials indicated that a key concern remains whether the review of a large number of voter documents – estimated at around 50 lakh referred under the "logical discrepancy" category – can be completed before the February 28 deadline.
Following the Supreme Court's directive last week mandating judicial oversight in adjudicating voter identity documents flagged for discrepancies, the Calcutta High Court has been actively monitoring the process.