In the West Bengal SIR matter, the Election Commission of India has filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court stating that over 22 lakh appeals before Appellate Tribunals were filed by persons whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls.

The affidavit states that out of the 38,31,429 appeals filed before the Tribunals, 22,21,118 were filed by voters whose names were deleted/excluded. As against these, 16,10,311 appeals were filed challenging voter inclusion.

The ECI affidavit further suggests an increase in the number of Appellate Tribunals, in a manner that corresponds with the number of parliamentary constituencies in the State, so that the appeals can be disposed of expeditiously. It adds that the software developed by it is "location-agnostic", which enables the judicial officers presiding over the Tribunals to decide the appeals from any place of convenience. ECI claims that the software employed facilitates speedy disposal, without requiring the judicial officers to remain physically present at a Tribunal location.

This latest affidavit has been filed in response to an application filed by Trinamool Congress leader Derek O Brien challenging ECI's procedural actions during SIR. Prior to this, the Commission filed another affidavit (in Prasenjit Bose's petition) stating that over 97% of the appeals filed before Appellate Tribunals were pending disposal.

As per the latest affidavit (in Derek O Brien's matter), 1,26,194 appeals have been decided till date, while 37,05,235 appeals are pending before the Appellate Tribunals. ECI further contests the claim that the adjudication exercise by Tribunals altered the electoral outcome.

In this regard, example is given of Dinhata, Khargram, Bally and Howraj Uttar Assembly Constituencies, to highlight that number of adjudicated deletions was lower than the margin of defeat.

Case: Mostari Banu v. Election Commission of India and Ors W.P.(C) No. 1089/2025 (and connected cases)