West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her “extreme happiness” following the Supreme Court’s order regarding appellate tribunals and the relaxation of the freeze on voter lists. The Supreme Court ordered that people cleared by appellate tribunals for inclusion in electoral rolls at least two days before polling will be entitled to vote in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
Banerjee stated, “I got the good news soon after boarding the chopper.” She mentioned that the first supplementary list will be published on April 21 for the first phase polling, and the second list for the second phase polling would be published on April 27.
Under the court’s directions, appellate tribunals must decide appeals by April 21 for the first phase of polling on April 23, and by April 27 for the second phase scheduled on April 29. Despite the ruling, the Election Commission has yet to clarify the operational procedures of the 19 tribunals that began work earlier this week.
EC officials have struggled to provide transparency regarding the tribunals’ operations, and questions remain about public hearings for the 2.7 million voters whose names were deleted from the roll after adjudication.
