Kolkata, March 7 – It will take at least another month, if not more, to complete the ongoing judicial review of voter documents classified under the ‘logical discrepancy’ category under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, according to estimates from the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal.
“The total number of ‘logical discrepancy’ cases referred for judicial review was slightly over 60 lakh. As of Friday night, the review process had been completed for 7.50 lakh such cases. The process for another 1,00,000 cases might be completed by Saturday night. Therefore, based on the current pace of judicial review, we estimate that a minimum period of one more month will be required to complete the review process,” an insider from the CEO’s office said.
According to the official, the pace of judicial review is expected to increase after 200 additional judicial officers from neighboring Jharkhand and Odisha join the exercise from Monday, taking the total number of judicial officers involved in the process to 732.
“Our estimate of one more month to complete the judicial review process is a very conservative one, as the pace of work is likely to accelerate further once the additional officers join,” the CEO’s office insider said.
The key question that has emerged is whether the Election Commission of India (ECI) will announce the polling dates for the upcoming Assembly elections in the state only after the judicial review process is completed or declare the schedule before the exercise concludes.
Clarity on the matter may emerge after a crucial hearing in the case at the Supreme Court on March 10.
The full bench of the ECI will arrive in Kolkata on Sunday night with a packed program for the next two days, reviewing both the ongoing judicial review process and the preparedness for the Assembly polls in the state, scheduled later this year.
While most of these 200 judicial officers coming from Jharkhand and Odisha will be deployed in Kolkata, a few will also be posted in other major district towns such as Bardhaman in East Burdwan district, Asansol in West Burdwan district, Kharagpur in West Midnapore district, and Siliguri in Darjeeling district.