India's election body filed 2 million appeals against Bengal voters, jamming the tribunals
The Election Commission of India's 2026 Special Intensive Revision deleted over 90.80 lakh (9.08 million) electors from West Bengal's rolls, Outlook reported. The Supreme Court ordered 19 appellate tribunals on 10 March 2026, and on 13 April, with over 34 lakh appeals filed, declined to let excluded people vote in the 23 and 29 April Assembly elections while their appeals were pending. RTI data filed in the Supreme Court on 24 August 2026 showed that by 7 August tribunals had decided only 82,782 of 38,10,620 appeals, and 75,443 of those decisions restored names; over 20 lakh of the appeals had been filed by the ECI itself against inclusions already cleared by judicial officers. Petitioner Prasenjit Bose warned of 'mass disenfranchisement' before December 2026 municipal polls and asked the court to prioritise voter-led appeals.
Over 20 lakh of the 38 lakh appeals were filed mechanically by the ECI itself.
37,27,838 appeals, or 97.83% of the total, are still pending, with only 1 in every 46 appeals decided so far.
The Court noted that about 34.35 lakh appeals have been filed before Appellate Tribunals.
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