Crawling pace in West Bengal Appellate Tribunals keep voters in limbo
Nearly 19,000 voters in West Bengal remain disenfranchised due to the slow processing of appeals by Appellate Tribunals tasked with reviewing electoral roll exclusions. With only 3% of 38.31 lakh cases cleared and several tribunal positions vacant, the Calcutta High Court estimates it could take 21 years to resolve the backlog.
Why it matters
The systemic failure of these tribunals threatens the democratic rights of millions of citizens by preventing them from participating in critical byelections and general electoral processes.
Nearly 19,000 voters in West Bengal’s Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies, where byelections are being held on Tuesday (October 6, 2026), are among the 38.31 lakh voters in West Bengal who remain disenfranchised due to the crawling pace of work at the Appellate Tribunals where their cases are pending. The Calcutta High Court had in July observed that at the current rate, it would take 21 years for the tribunals to clear the cases.
In Rejinagar, the total number of appeals submitted was 12,452, out of which four have been included so far, and in Nandigram, the total number of appeals submitted was 6,443, with 89 included so far. While in both places, no one has been excluded so far, the tribunals have, till now, cleared only 1.26 lakh of the total 38.31 lakh appeals, which is approximately 3% of the total cases.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in