Those missing on suppl list can file plea online or at DM office | Kolkata News

Kolkata: If persons marked ‘under adjudication’ on the SIR list again find themselves missing from the supplementary electoral roll once it is published, they can file online or offline appeals to the tribunal against judicial officials’ orders.The first supplementary list would be published by 8 pm on Monday, Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal said on Saturday. Judicial officials have so far disposed of over 27 lakh cases. Nabanna on Saturday evening alerted DMs to take crowd management measures on Monday before the first supplementary list was published. All senior police officers, including SPs and commissioners, were asked to take precautionary steps in possible places of gathering, keep eye on vulnerable points and to ensure law and order are maintained.According to an EC notification, online appeals against judicial officials’ orders can be directly submitted through the ECINET platform or can physically be presented at the offices of district magistrates or sub-divisional magistrates or sub-divisional officers, who in turn, will ensure uploading of the appeal on the portal.The commission on Friday constituted 19 appellate tribunals to hear pleas on the inclusion or exclusion of prospective electors in the electoral roll.A senior EC official said appellants did not need to engage a lawyer to file an appeal. “Individuals whose names fail to clear judicial adjudication can themselves approach the tribunal after the supplementary list is published,” he said, adding no fresh document would have to be filed. “The tribunal will re-examine cases disposed of by judicial officers. As all relevant documents are already part of the case records, appellants won’t need to submit any additional paper. The appellate authority will verify if due process, prescribed by the apex court, was followed. In most cases, hearings may not even be needed,” the official said.But the tribunals are likely to take some time to start functioning as the office has not yet been set up and staff members not assigned. BLOs across the city said they had not yet received any instruction from the EC about their role in the tribunal. A BLO in north Kolkata said, “This morning, my supervisor told me that I might have to assist some voters in making their appeals to the tribunal.”Some of the BLOs said even if there was no official directive, they would themselves help out voters file their appeal to the tribunal if they fail to clear the judicial scrutiny. “I have about 23 voters placed under adjudication and some of them submitted all the requisite documents during the hearing. If I find any of them missing from the supplementary list, I will consult the ERO or AERO to learn how to make an appeal in the tribunal,” said a BLO in south Kolkata.Many electors, too, said they would turn to their BLOs, their linkpersons since the rollout of the SIR drive in Nov. Rishav Ganguly, a Scott Lane resident, said, “I don’t know anything about the tribunal or the tribunal appeal process if my name does not appear. I will have to reach out to the BLO.”