Adjudication of logical discrepancies begins after initial glitches, full-scale verification from Tuesday

The adjudication of voter documents flagged for logical discrepancies under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process began at a slow pace on Monday after initial technical hiccups, with the exercise expected to gather momentum from Tuesday.

West Bengal’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal indicated after an internal review meeting at the CEO’s office on Sunday.

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Responding to queries from the Media on when the process would formally commence and how many individuals would be called for scrutiny, Mr Agarwal said, “Work on the portal has already started. There were some problems in between. The OTP-related issues have also been resolved.”

He clarified that the meeting held earlier in the day was an internal one. “This was our internal meeting,” he said, adding that technical glitches relating to login passwords and one-time password (OTP) authentication had caused temporary disruptions in several places.

“There were some issues with login passwords. In many places, there were problems related to OTPs. In several locations, those have now started functioning properly,” the CEO said.

On being asked whether the final disposal process had formally begun, Mr Agarwal said it could start from today itself. He also noted that judicial officers have already initiated hearings and scrutiny proceedings in a number of places. “The judicial officers who are there have started the hearing or scrutiny process. Work has progressed in quite a few locations,” he stated.

Though there are indications that judicial officers have been entrusted with the task of verifying documents of over 50 lakh voters identified with logical discrepancies, the CEO refrained from disclosing the exact number of people who would be summoned as part of the scrutiny process. When pressed on the figures, he said he would need to verify the data before making it public. “I will have to check and inform you,” he said, without specifying a timeline. Meanwhile, Mr Agarwal informed that a second round of meetings ~ focused on deployment of forces ~ is scheduled to begin at 7 pm today. Further details are expected after the conclusion of that meeting, officials indicated.

State Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Director General of Police Piyush Pandey were present during the discussions.

Following directions of the Supreme Court of India, the responsibility of examining and disposing of voter documents flagged for factual discrepancies under the SIR process has been assigned to judicial officers.