Kolkata, March 6 – Around 7.5 lakh cases of judicial review of voter documents classified under the "logical discrepancy" category have been completed by Friday evening, informed the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal.
"A total of 200 more judicial officers from neighboring Odisha and Jharkhand will be arriving in West Bengal by Saturday morning. After a two-day training on Saturday and Sunday, they will join the judicial review process on Monday. Their involvement will further accelerate the process of judicial review," Agarwal told media persons on Friday evening.
A total of over 60 lakh voter documents were originally referred for judicial review. The final voter list in West Bengal, excluding the cases referred for judicial review, was published on February 28. The supplementary list will be published as per an earlier order of the Supreme Court.
Reacting to the Trinamool Congress's allegations earlier in the day that many "living" voters have been shown as "deceased" voters following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state, Agarwal said that if there were such complaints, the concerned voters should approach the Commission.
"We will take action if a complaint is filed. We will investigate to determine whose negligence resulted in the omission of the names of living voters being marked as dead voters. Why was this done? Was someone deliberately omitting the names? All these matters will be investigated," Agarwal said.
Two other crucial developments related to the judicial review aspect of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and the poll-preparedness for the upcoming crucial Assembly elections in the state are scheduled next week, especially on Monday and Tuesday.
The full bench of the ECI, led by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, will arrive in Kolkata on the night of March 8 with a packed schedule for the next two days to review both the ongoing judicial exercise as well as the preparedness for the upcoming Assembly polls.
On March 10 (Tuesday), a crucial hearing on the SIR and related judicial review is scheduled at the Supreme Court.