New Delhi, March 15 Supplementary voter lists in West Bengal will be issued as judicial officers adjudicate cases of doubtful voters flagged in the SIR exercise, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar said on Sunday.
After the special intensive revision of the voters' list concluded in West Bengal in February with the publication of final electoral rolls, the names of over 60 lakh voters were found "doubtful", and they were handed over to judicial officers for adjudication.
Now, their names can only be included by way of supplementary voters' lists.
Following the Supreme Court's directions, some 530 judicial officers manning subordinate courts in West Bengal, and neighbouring Jharkhand and Odisha, have been deputed for hearings related to the SIR process.
Responding to a question during a press conference to announce the schedule of elections for five assemblies, he said judicial officers were adjudicating the case and "we will bring supplementary lists as and when the cases are settled by them".
"As per the orders of the Supreme Court, the judges working under the directions of the Calcutta High Court would be bringing out this supplementary list, and as and when the names come out, they shall be included in the existing list of electors," he said.
West Bengal's voter count in post-SIR electoral rolls stands at over 7.04 crore after deletions and additions during the revision exercise.
The poll body on Sunday announced that assembly elections to the 294 seats in Bengal will be held in two phases -- April 23 and April 29 -- with the counting scheduled on May 4.