Kolkata, April 1 – The judicial adjudication process has been completed for over 78 per cent of the cases referred for adjudication after being classified under the “logical discrepancy” category, with the process yet to be completed for another 13 lakh cases.
The figures stood as of Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday. Given the speed at which over 700 judicial officers, including 100 each from neighboring Jharkhand and Odisha, are conducting the adjudication process, the Commission is confident of completing it by this week, according to an insider from the CEO's office.
Although the exact number of the 47 lakh cases that have been subjected to judicial adjudication up to Tuesday night had not been specified, the insider from the CEO's office said that the average daily deletion percentage is around 40 per cent of the cases that are processed daily.
Those voters whose names will be deleted as part of the judicial adjudication process will have the option to approach any one of the 19 appellate tribunals established for this purpose.
To recall, the final voter list in West Bengal, minus the 60,00,675 cases referred for judicial adjudication, was published on February 28. It was then decided that supplementary lists would be published periodically, according to the progress of the judicial adjudication, at the order of the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the immediate suspension of Sayantan Bhattacharya, the block development officer (BDO) of Hanskhali in the Nadia district of West Bengal. This action comes in the wake of an incident of violence at an election training center in the district, in which electoral officer Saikat Chatterjee, who is also a teacher, was severely beaten, allegedly by Trinamool Congress activists within the training center, and in the presence of the BDO.
He was reportedly beaten after protesting against the playing of a purported Trinamool Congress campaign video during an electoral training program.
The ECI has sought a detailed report on the matter, and following the Commission's instructions, an FIR was also registered at the local police station. A report was sent from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) to the ECI headquarters in New Delhi, and finally, the Commission decided to suspend the concerned BDO.