Voters classified as “under adjudication” are anticipating clarity concerning their cases when the full bench of the Election Commission hold meetings with state officials on Monday. They are also keenly awaiting the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Tuesday.

Over 60.06 lakh voters across Bengal were under adjudication when the final post-SIR roll was published on February 28. By Friday, 7 lakh of these cases had been decided, but the outcome was still unknown.

The voters are concerned about when all cases will be decided and when they will receive the results. Furthermore, they are questioning whether they will have enough time to file appeals and return to the roll if they are removed after the adjudication process.

“I expect the Election Commission to provide some clarity on what is happening with our cases. It seems the election dates will be announced soon, but what will happen if all the under adjudication cases are not decided by then?” asked Rashad Hasan, 38, a Beniapukur resident, who, along with his parents and sister, has been kept under adjudication.

The names of his parents appeared on the 2002 electoral roll; however, they remain under adjudication, said Hasan, who operates a data analytics firm dealing with stock markets.

Hasan and his family are registered voters in the Ballygunge Assembly constituency, which has 23,968 voters currently under adjudication.

Sabita Bose, mother of 33-year-old Debipriya Bose, is worried about her daughter.

Debipriya, a voter from the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, has been kept “under adjudication” despite having voted multiple times and her parents featuring in the 2002 list.

“If the Commission want to see my daughter’s documents once again, we are ready to show them. But how can they put her under adjudication?” asked Sabita.

The Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, represented by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, has 14,154 voters under adjudication.

Chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi will meet all district magistrates, superintendents of police, district election officers of south and north Calcutta, the city’s police commissioner, and several senior police officers and officials of the state government at a hotel in New Town on Monday to discuss poll preparedness.

Many believe Assembly election dates will be announced soon after the EC team leaves the state.

Over 500 judicial officers are now studying cases under adjudication.

On February 20, the Supreme Court cited the “trust deficit” between the Election Commission and the Bengal government before directing serving and retired judicial officers to settle “logical discrepancies”.

The next hearing on the issue is scheduled for Tuesday at the apex court. Voters are also keenly looking forward to the court’s hearing. “We think the Supreme Court will issue some directions, thinking about our plight. It may fix a timeline by when the under adjudication cases have to be decided,” hoped Hasan.

A district magistrate and district election officer said on Sunday that the Commission may make it clear during Monday’s meeting when a supplementary electoral roll — with the results of the under adjudication cases already decided — can be published. It is likely to also give a direction on whether there should be one supplementary roll or many supplementary rolls, with the names of voters whose cases were decided till then.

The district magistrate stated that the supplementary electoral roll may be published until the final date of
nomination.