West Bengal Government’s Incomplete Action on Voter List Tampering

The Election Commission of India (ECI) has reported that the West Bengal government has not fully complied with its directives regarding allegations of tampering with the voter list. This assertion was made during a submission to the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, addressing a case initiated by a suspended polling worker, Arun Gharai, who claimed he was falsely implicated in the matter.

According to ECI’s lawyer, Soumya Majumdar, the commission had initially ordered the suspension of four officials implicated in the alleged tampering and mandated the filing of First Information Reports (FIRs) against them. However, the state government only suspended two officers and failed to file FIRs against any. The ECI emphasized that the High Court should seek further details from the state government to understand why these orders were not executed.

The commission highlighted the necessity of uncovering the reasons behind the lack of action, questioning whether there is an intention to conceal the identities of the implicated officials. ECI assured the court that if any officer is found guilty of voter list tampering in the future, both departmental investigations and potential criminal charges will be pursued.

Preparations for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal are already underway, with a formal notification expected soon. This process aims to remove the names of ineligible individuals while ensuring that eligible voters remain on the list.

Arun Gharai, who served as an Assistant System Manager in the Kakdwip sub-division of South 24 Parganas district, was previously involved in revising the voter list. Following the ECI’s directives, the state government filed an FIR against him, leading to his suspension. He now faces a criminal case and has claimed that he is a “whistleblower” facing harassment from law enforcement. Gharai has requested protection from arrest, a plea that was granted by Justice Amrita Singh, with protection extended until November 11, 2023. The case will be reviewed on that date.

In a previous court session, Gharai alleged that numerous fraudulent birth and death certificates were issued from a local gram panchayat in Kakdwip. He contended that these were used to manipulate the voter list, allowing for the addition, alteration, or transfer of names based on falsified documents. He has also sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into these allegations.

The matter escalated when the West Bengal government partially complied with the ECI’s orders last month. They suspended four officials, including two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) from the Moyna and Baruipur Assembly Constituencies. Despite this action, the government did not file FIRs against the officials, which contravened the ECI’s directive.

The officials involved include Debottam Dutta Chowdhury, the ERO for Baruipur East, Tathagata Mandal, the AERO of the same area, and Biplob Sarkar and Sudipta Das, ERO and AERO from Moyna, respectively. A data entry operator named Surjit Halder was also implicated in the allegations of tampering.

As the situation unfolds, the Calcutta High Court awaits further information regarding the state government’s actions and the ongoing investigations into these serious allegations.