ECI appoints additional CEO for Bengal

In a move aimed at strengthening coordination in the adjudication of disputed voter records, senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Vibhu Goel was on Monday appointed as Additional Chief Electoral Officer (ACEO) for West Bengal.

He is supposed liaise with judges presiding over the 19 Appellate Tribunals set up to hear cases related to the deletion of voters’ names under the “logical discrepancy” category.

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According to a notification issued by the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Goel will serve as the single point of contact between the Election Commission of India (ECI), Appellate Tribunal judges, and the Calcutta High Court.

Goel will also be tasked with ensuring real-time communication of all instructions, advisories and updates from the ECI to the Appellate Tribunal judges. In addition, he will oversee infrastructure and logistical preparedness at tribunal venues, including staffing, technical support, transport and security arrangements, as stated in the notification.

His responsibilities further include monitoring and updating the status of appeal uploads on the ECI portal across districts, coordinating with judges on honorarium, modalities and timelines for disbursement, addressing their queries and grievances, and ensuring seamless communication regarding operational readiness and timelines with both the tribunals and the Calcutta High Court.

“These responsibilities are assigned in conformity with the requisition conveyed by the Registrar General, High Court of Calcutta to ensure seamless, accountable and time-bound coordination in the functioning of Appellate Tribunals under SIR 2026,” the notification said.

It may be recalled that the final electoral roll in West Bengal, excluding around 60 lakh cases referred for judicial adjudication, was published on 28 February.

Prior to the notification of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in November last year, the total number of voters in the state stood at 7,66,37,529. In the draft electoral roll published in December, 58,20,899 names were deleted. This figure rose to 63,66,952 in the final list published on 28 February.