200 additional judicial officers to scrutinise ‘logical discrepancy’ voter cases in Bengal SIR

The Election Commission has decided to deploy 200 additional judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to accelerate the scrutiny of voter identity documents under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. A total of 100 officers each from the two states will join the verification process from March 6 to address the growing backlog.

The move aims to expedite the examination of documents belonging to nearly 60 lakh voters placed under the category of “logical discrepancy.” These cases were excluded from the final voter list published on February 28 and have been marked as “suspicious.” Officials said supplementary voter lists will be issued once the pending verifications are completed.

According to a senior Election Commission official, the judicial officers will be deployed district-wise, with more personnel assigned to districts reporting a higher number of pending cases. The objective is to ensure timely completion of the judicial scrutiny process and maintain the integrity of the electoral roll.

Meanwhile, tensions have escalated between the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal and the West Bengal Civil Service Executive Officers’ Association. The association alleged that Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal held Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) responsible for the backlog in verification.

The CEO’s office rejected the allegations, clarifying that officers were not blamed for all pending cases. However, it acknowledged that certain cases were referred for judicial scrutiny because they remained unresolved at the level of EROs and AEROs. The statement also reminded government employees to adhere to service conduct rules and avoid remarks that could affect the image of constitutional institutions.