Ec Appellate Tribunals: EC constitutes 19 appellate tribunals to hear SIR cases | India News
New Delhi: Election CommissionWorking under its instructions Supreme Court And on the recommendation of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on Friday, 19 Appellate Tribunals have been constituted to hear appeals against orders passed by designated judicial officers in Bengal regarding the inclusion or exclusion of prospective voters in the state’s electoral roll.As a result of the publication of the supplementary voter list — after adjudication of ‘suspicious’ cases under the SIR by the judicial officers — an appellant can appeal against the order passed by the designated judicial officers, the EC said in a notification issued on Friday.The tribunals, which will hear appeals by districts or a set of districts, will be headed by former judges, including former High Court Chief Justice TS Shivagnanam, who will preside over the 24 Parganas North (constituency-based) and Calcutta District Appellate Tribunals.The tribunals are likely to be operational by Monday until all appeals are disposed of. Voter lists are frozen on the last day of nominations, supplementary lists should be published no later than a day before the issuance of election notifications, tribunals should be given a week to hear appeals.If the appeal is decided on the last day of nominations – April 6 for the 1st phase and April 9 for the 2nd phase – those approved for inclusion on the tribunal’s list will be able to vote in the upcoming elections.For those who do not pass the tribunal examination or have their appeals heard before this deadline, the implications are far greater than simply not being able to vote. If the tribunal rules them ineligible to remain on the list – essentially because they are non-citizens – they must be confined to a detention center and deported to their country of origin.Sources in the commission said the tribunal needs to be set up before publication of the supplementary list to give clarity to those included or excluded from the supplementary list on how and where to appeal. As per the EC notification, the appeal can be filed online through the ECINet platform or physically in the office of the DMDistrict Magistrate, SDM or SDO.One tribunal each for the districts of East Medinipur, Cooch Behar, East Burdwan, Nadia, Howrah, South Dinajpur, 24 Parganas South, Hooghly, West Burdwan, North Dinajpur, Birbhum and Malda; Four tribunals will hear appeals from two sets of districts; Amalgamation is 24 Parganas (AC based) and Kolkata; Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar; West Midnapore and Jhargram; and Purulia and Bankura.
