West Bengal Electoral Roll Revision Process Marred by Controversy Over Exclusion of Former Judge's Name

KOLKATA: The special electoral roll revision process (SIR) undertaken by the Election Commission of West Bengal has run into controversies. Former Calcutta High Court judge Shahidullah Munshi, his wife and son were excluded from the electoral roll at the primary stage. However, after the matter was disputed and the judge expressed his displeasure publicly, their names have been included again in the second supplementary list released late on Friday night. Shahidullah Munshi has confirmed that their names are now appearing in the list and the controversy is over. Despite providing documents, the exclusion of names has created a controversy: Earlier, Justice Munshi had expressed serious concerns about the process. He said that despite submitting the required documents twice and completing the verification process, his name was marked as'Not Found'in the electoral roll. He questioned the commission's methodology, saying that no reason was given as to why the name was deleted. Apart from this, no documents submitted (not received), no question of the applicant being served on the Appellate Tribunal.