Bengal SIR: EC says it may increase number of appellate tribunals to 42 from 19

The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that it may increase the number of appellate tribunals in West Bengal to 42, corresponding to the number of parliamentary constituencies in the state.

Currently, the state has 19 tribunals to hear the appeals filed against decisions taken during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls.

The move to increase the number of tribunals would be in line with the demand of petitioners challenging the voter roll revision exercise.

Prasenjit Bose, the chairperson of the special intensive revision committee of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, had urged the court to increase the number of tribunals to 42, keeping in mind the municipal polls scheduled for December, reported The Hindu.

In its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the poll panel said that it is “proposed that the number of appellate tribunals in the state may be considered for increase to correspond with the number of parliamentary constituencies, so as to facilitate expeditious disposal of the pending appeals”.

The Election Commission added that the software it has developed is “location-agnostic”, which would facilitate hearings from locations other than the present tribunals, which are on the outskirts of Kolkata.

The poll panel made the submission in a reply to an application filed by Derek O’Brien, an...

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