The West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) Officers' Association has lodged a formal and detailed objection against what it describes as the Election Commission's implementation of an automated, system-driven mechanism for deleting voter names during the current Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, contending that this approach systematically sidesteps established statutory protocols and undermines the designated authority of Electoral Registration Officers.

In a comprehensive representation addressed to the state's Chief Electoral Officer on Saturday, the association drew specific attention to the draft electoral rolls published on December 16, pointing out that a substantial volume of electors had been summarily removed without the prerequisite verification or return of their enumeration forms, ostensibly on grounds including reported death, permanent migration, prolonged absence, or identified duplication.

The Election Commission of India had, through this SIR exercise, effected the removal of more than 58 lakh voter entries across West Bengal based on varied rationales, a scale of action that has provoked serious reservations regarding the procedural integrity, particularly the apparent omission of mandatory hearings for affected individuals as enshrined in legal frameworks.

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The officers' organization meticulously referenced prevailing statutory provisions, emphasizing that deletions are permissible only under narrowly defined special circumstances—such as when an individual has ceased to be an ordinary resident of the constituency or is otherwise disqualified from registration—and must invariably involve the Electoral Registration Officer granting the concerned person a fair and reasonable opportunity to be heard, in strict accordance with Section 22 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

Expressing profound concern over potential violations of fundamental electoral rights, the association cautioned that the abrupt, large-scale system-orchestrated expungement of entries risks disenfranchising otherwise eligible citizens who, for legitimate reasons beyond their control, may have been unavailable during the enumeration phase, while simultaneously imposing undue accountability on EROs who have been effectively excluded from exercising their mandated quasi-judicial oversight in the deletion process, and urged immediate remedial directives to restore clarity and compliance in the execution of their duties.

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