Bengal officers' body counters CEO on pending voter roll cases

Kolkata, March 2 (IANS) The West Bengal Civil Service (Executive) Officers’ Association on Monday refuted remarks by West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal attributing the marking of certain names as “under adjudication” in the final electoral rolls, published after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process, to the functioning of Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs). 

In a statement posted on social media, the WBCS (Executive) Officers’ Association termed the allegations “completely untrue” and denied that the pending status of such names was due to lapses on the part of EROs/AEROs.

“With reference to the communication on social media by @CEOWestBengal dated 02.03.2026, it is noted with grave concern that the names marked as ‘Under Adjudication’ have been attributed to the EROs/AEROs. This is completely untrue and emphatically denied. It has been alleged in the said communication that these names could not be included in the recently published electoral roll because of the concerned EROs/AEROs,” the association said.

The association further claimed that micro observers and roll observers engaged by the Election Commission of India were responsible for the development.

“The EROs/AEROs have been working diligently during this period, conducting hearings, uploading documents and issuing reasoned orders. Micro Observers and Roll Observers engaged by the Election Commission of India have disagreed and sent back many cases already disposed of by EROs/AEROs without any observations or comments, which has led to a large number of names being marked as ‘Under Adjudication’,” the statement added.

It further stated that assigning blame to officers “who have been working day and night in the electoral process is not only demeaning but also adversely affects their morale”.

The reaction from the WBCS (Executive) Officers’ Association came a day after the Chief Electoral Officer issued a clarification regarding the “under adjudication” category in the final voters’ list.

In a statement, the CEO said: “It is clarified that all cases under consideration of Hon’ble Judicial Officers have been marked as ‘Under Adjudication’ in the electoral roll published on 28.02.2026. The learned Judicial Officers are working under the guidance of the Calcutta High Court as per the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court.”

The statement further said: “It will be pertinent to mention that certain names have been marked as ‘Under Adjudication’ since the concerned EROs/AEROs did not decide them after hearing. As a result, those names, being pending, were sent for adjudication by Judicial Officers as per the order of the Hon’ble Apex Court.”

--IANS

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