New Delhi [India], May 9 : Congress Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Saturday alleged irregularities in the deletion of voter names in West Bengal, targeting the Election Commission while referring to figures related to appeals disposed of by an election tribunal.
In a post on X, Sibal referred to Former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, one of 19 Appellate Tribunals to hear appeals by persons excluded from the electoral roll in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal, and claimed that a majority of the appeals were cleared in favour of the appellants.
"Justice TS Shivagnanum. One of 19 Tribunals hearing appeals in West Bengal Elections. Disposed 1777 appeals. Cleared 1717," Sibal said in the post.
Drawing his own interpretation from the figures, the Rajya Sabha MP alleged that more than 96 per cent of names had been "wrongly deleted" from electoral rolls.
"What this means: More than 96 per cent of names wrongly deleted. CEC zindabad. This is how BJP won!" he alleged.
The remarks come after Justice TS Sivagnanam resigned from the Appellate Tribunal on Thursday.
Earlier, the Supreme Court directed the Appellate Tribunals to grant out-of-turn hearings to cases of persons excluded from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, particularly in matters where urgency is demonstrated by the appellants ahead of the ongoing Assembly elections.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant also granted liberty to excluded persons to approach the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court with their grievance.
The court noted, "We grant liberty to the petitioners and other stakeholders to approach the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court on the administrative side. Similarly, if the matters require judicial intervention, they may approach the Chief Justice of the High Court. As regards those names who have been excluded in SIR and those who have filed appeals before the Appellate Tribunal, the Tribunal may grant them out-of-turn hearing of appeals, especially to appellants who are able to prove urgency."
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