Bengal CEO flags ‘deliberate laxity’ in voter list revision, sends report to EC

The office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) in West Bengal has sent a detailed and strongly worded report to the Election Commission headquarters, flagging alleged negligence during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. The report accuses certain Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) of deliberate laxity in discharging their duties and has recommended disciplinary action against those found responsible. The final decision, however, will rest with the Election Commission.

According to information cited in the report, multiple instances were identified where documents submitted by voters during hearings were not uploaded to the system within the stipulated timeframe. Commission guidelines mandate same-day uploading of documents, but in several cases, the process was reportedly kept pending until the last moment. These delays resulted in numerous cases being referred for judicial adjudication due to incomplete procedural formalities.

The CEO’s office noted that in certain cases the delay did not appear inadvertent but intentional, contributing to a rise in matters pending judicial consideration. It maintained that while not all pending cases were attributable to officials, some remained unresolved at the officers’ level, necessitating referral to the judicial process — a fact that it said could be verified from records.

The development comes shortly after the publication of the state’s final voter list on February 28, which excluded nearly six million cases owing to their pending judicial status. Officials clarified that as these cases are resolved, supplementary electoral rolls will be released in phases.

The issue has also triggered sharp exchanges between the state civil service officers’ association and the CEO’s office. The association alleged that regional officials were being unfairly blamed for the backlog. In response, the CEO’s office stated that officers on deputation under the Election Commission must respect the authority of the constitutional body and cautioned against making unverified statements that could undermine institutional credibility.