Kolkata: Bengal voters whose appeals are pending before SIR tribunals can now submit additional documents through booth-level officers (BLOs) as they seek restoration of names in electoral rolls. The move comes amid claims by a research group that appeals have been filed to exclude nearly half the voters whose inclusion was cleared by judicial officers.On Thursday, Election Commission (EC) introduced a new feature, “Upload documents against Appeal”, in its BLO App. EC officials said BLOs would collect additional documents from voters who had appealed against deletions and upload them for judicial officers to scrutinise before deciding cases.According to an EC affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in Sept, around 38 lakh appeals had been filed before the tribunals. Judicial officers had cleared around 33 lakh voters for inclusion after examining 60 lakh cases under adjudication.“For instance, if a person had submitted any of the EC documents notified by EC for Bengal to make an appeal in the tribunal, he or she can now get additional documents uploaded with the help of BLO. The judicial officer will decide whether the person’s name should be restored in the electoral roll or not,” a senior EC official told TOI.Raju Sahu, a resident of Kolkata’s Hazra Road whose appeal is pending, has decided to approach his BLO to upload additional documents. “In April, I had made an appeal in the tribunal, but till now, I am unaware how far it has progressed. Despite submission of my documents during the SIR, my name was knocked out of the rolls,” Sahu said.However, the new facility has caused confusion among BLOs, who said they had received no instructions yet from electoral registration officers (EROs). They had earlier been told that voters whose appeals were pending would not be covered by the ongoing special drive to include deleted and new voters.“It has not been communicated to the BLOs that they are to use the new feature for uploading additional documents of the tribunal appellants,” Swapan Mondal, general secretary of Votekarmi o BLO Aikyamancha, said.Meanwhile, Civic Research Group claimed appeals had been filed to exclude 15.5 lakh names cleared by judicial officers. The group said it had digitised supplementary electoral rolls and checked EPIC numbers to identify appeals against the inclusions. However, it could not confirm whether all appeals were filed by the EC, saying individuals may also have filed them.
