NewKerala.com

Bengal Appoints Special Election Officer to Coordinate Voter List Appeals

Senior IAS officer Vibhu Goel has been appointed as an Additional Chief Electoral Officer for West Bengal. His exclusive role is to coordinate with the 19 Appellate Tribunal judges handling cases of voter deletions classified under "logical discrepancies." Goel will act as the single point of contact between the Election Commission, the tribunals, and the Calcutta High Court, ensuring seamless communication and operational readiness. This move follows the deletion of over 63 lakh names from the state's voter list since the draft was published.

Key Points: Bengal Appoints Additional CEO for Voter List Tribunal Coordination

  • IAS officer appointed for tribunal coordination
  • Single point of contact for ECI and judges
  • Oversee logistics and grievance redressal
  • Manage 63+ lakh voter deletions
2 min read

Additional CEO appointed in Bengal to coordinate with Appellate Tribunal judges

Senior IAS officer Vibhu Goel appointed as Additional CEO in West Bengal to coordinate between Election Commission and Appellate Tribunals for voter list cases.

"ensure seamless, accountable, and time-bound coordination in the functioning of Appellate Tribunals - CEO Notification"

Kolkata, April 6

Senior Indian Administrative Service officer Vibhu Goel was on Monday appointed as an Additional Chief Electoral Officer for West Bengal, exclusively to coordinate with the judges heading the 19 Appellate Tribunals set up to settle cases where names of voters have been deleted during the judicial adjudication of cases classified under the "logical discrepancy" category.

As per the notification issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, on Monday afternoon, Goel will act as the single point of contact between the Election Commission of India (ECI), Appellate Tribunal judges, and the Calcutta High Court.

Goel will also be responsible for ensuring real-time communication of all instructions, advisories, and updates from the ECI to the Appellate Tribunal judges and overseeing the readiness of infrastructure and logistics at the tribunal venues, including staff, technical support, transport, and security arrangements, as per the notification.

He will also monitor and communicate the status of appeal uploads on the ECI portal for respective districts, coordinate and inform Appellate Tribunal judges regarding honorarium, modalities, and timelines of disbursement, address queries and grievances raised by the judges, and facilitate seamless coordination while communicating readiness timelines and operational preparedness of the Appellate Tribunals to the judges and the Calcutta High Court.

"These responsibilities are assigned in conformity with the requisition conveyed by the Registrar General, Hon'ble High Court of Calcutta to ensure seamless, accountable, and time-bound coordination in the functioning of Appellate Tribunals under SIR 2026," read the notification issued by the CEO, West Bengal.

To recall, the final voters' list in West Bengal -- excluding the 60 lakh cases referred for judicial adjudication - was published on February 28. It was decided that supplementary lists would be released in line with the progress of the adjudication process.

Before the notification of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) was issued for West Bengal in November last year, the total number of voters in the state stood at 7,66,37,529. In the draft voters' list published in December last year, a total of 58,20,899 names were deleted. In the final voters' list published on February 28, the deletion figure rose to 63,66,952.

- IANS

Share this article:

Reader Comments

P
Priya S
Good move by the ECI. A single point of contact should streamline things. The scale of deletions is massive and concerning. Families in my neighborhood are worried their names might have been removed. The tribunals need to work fast and fairly.
R
Rohit P
While coordination is good, the core issue is why so many deletions happened in the first place. 63+ lakh voters is not a small number. Was the revision process flawed? This feels like firefighting after creating the fire.
M
Michael C
Interesting to see the administrative machinery gearing up. The "logical discrepancy" category seems broad. Hope the tribunals have clear guidelines to judge these cases without bias. The integrity of the electoral roll is paramount.
S
Shreya B
Accountability is key. Having one officer responsible for communication between ECI, High Court, and 19 tribunals should reduce confusion and delays. Let's hope the supplementary lists come out soon so people can check their status.
D
David E
The logistical challenge here is huge. 19 tribunals, real-time updates, infrastructure readiness... it's a complex operation. Appointing a senior IAS officer specifically for this shows how serious the situation is. Hope it works smoothly.

We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.

Leave a Comment

Minimum 50 characters 0/50