Kolkata, March 27 The retired judge of the Calcutta High Court and chairperson of the West Bengal Waqf Board, Shahidullah Munshi, claimed that his name has been deleted after a judicial review of the electoral rolls, and he has decided to approach an appellate tribunal.
This exclusion came to light after the publication of the first supplementary list of voters who were "under adjudication" on Monday.
Justice Munshi said that the names of his wife and elder son continue to be under consideration.
The chairperson of the state Waqf Board also said that he had appeared for the SIR hearing, submitted his passport, and offered to provide his Aadhaar and PAN cards.
The retired judge said that his family found their names marked as "under adjudication" in the post-SIR electoral roll published on February 28.
"My name was deleted in the first supplementary list. I have submitted all the required documents, including my passport, but I received no acknowledgement," he said on Thursday.
According to official data released on February 28, 63.66 lakh names, approximately 8.3 per cent of the electorate, have been deleted since the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process began in November last year, reducing the voter base from about 7.66 crore to just over 7.04 crore.
In addition, over 60.06 lakh electors have been placed in the "under adjudication" category, and the eligibility of these people as voters is being determined through judicial scrutiny.
Describing the situation as distressing, he said, "So far, only my name has been deleted, while the names of my wife and son are still under consideration. This is extremely humiliating and amounts to harassment. I do not understand how the decision was taken or on what basis my name was removed."
Munshi said that he would soon approach the appellate tribunal seeking the restoration of his name in the electoral rolls.
The retired judge said that he and his wife were earlier voters of the Bowbazar assembly constituency and had later shifted to Entally.
The issue has triggered a political row, with the ruling Trinamool Congress criticising the Election Commission over the exclusion.
"When a former high court judge's name is deleted from the voters' list, one can imagine the plight of ordinary citizens, including the poor and marginalised," a TMC leader said.
The Election Commission has not issued any official statement on the matter so far.
Meanwhile, a senior BJP leader said that there were legal remedies available in case of discrepancies.
"If there has been any error, the person concerned can approach the tribunal as permitted by the court. The legal route is open," he said.