3.7M Appeals Face 12-Year Delay as EC Urges Supreme Court for Virtual Benches

• by Akanksha Mishra
• 2026-09-21 14:45:00

Lakhs of excluded citizens across West Bengal seeking reinstatement on the electoral rolls face an agonizing procedural bottleneck, as current judicial processing speeds indicate it could take more than 12 years—approximately 146 months—to resolve all pending voter list appeals. According to a formal status affidavit submitted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) before the Supreme Court, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Appellate Tribunals have cleared only 126,194 cases over the past five months since mid-April 2026. Operating seven days a week, the existing judicial machinery manages an average clearance rate of merely 25,238 applications each month, leaving an overwhelming backlog of 3,705,235 unresolved appeals as of September 16, which directly threatens the constitutional enfranchisement of eligible citizens across the state.

Commission Pleads for 42 Dedicated Tribunals Aligned with Lok Sabha Seats

Responding to a high-profile legal petition moved by Trinamool Congress (TMC) Parliamentary Party Leader Derek O'Brien, the poll panel approached the apex court seeking sweeping structural reforms to avert multi-election disenfranchisement. The Commission urged the bench to immediately increase the total strength of appellate tribunals in West Bengal from the present 24 to 42, creating one dedicated appellate tribunal for each of the state's 42 parliamentary constituencies. Backed by expanded bench capacity, the judicial disposal mechanism aims to decentralize workload concentrations, speed up regional voter claims verification, and dramatically shorten the prolonged processing queue before upcoming general and regional elections.

Digital Hearings and Remote Work Proposed Under Calcutta High Court SOPs

To circumvent infrastructural logjams and curb commuting delays for presiding judges, the Election Commission has requested formal judicial clearance to roll out remote virtual hearings and work-from-home provisions for appointed judicial officers. The Commission underlined that the tribunals were originally formed pursuant to direct Supreme Court guidelines, functioning under a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) drafted by an expert panel chaired by a former Calcutta High Court judge. Emphasizing the urgency of structural expansion, the poll body cautioned that failing to increase tribunal strength and adopt digital hearings will prevent millions of legitimate voters from exercising their democratic franchise for years to come.

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