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Politics
19,000 West Bengal Voters Set to Miss Bypolls as Tribunal Vacancies Persist
✍️ The Hindu
🗓 06 Oct 2026, 03:39 AM
👁 8
Three vacant appellate tribunals have left 19,000 voters in West Bengal unable to vote in upcoming bypolls, as appeals remain unresolved.
The Election Commission established 19 appellate tribunals in March to adjudicate election disputes, but three of them have become inoperative after the resignations of retired judges Justice T.S. Sivagnanam, Justice Ranjit Bag and Justice Indrajit Chatterjee. The vacancies mean that 16 tribunals are still functional while the remaining three are empty.
The resignations were attributed to various functional issues within the tribunals, leaving the commission scrambling to fill the gaps. As a consequence, 19,000 voters in West Bengal are unable to participate in the forthcoming bypolls because their appeals have not been heard.
The Election Commission and state authorities have announced that they are actively seeking replacements for the vacant positions. Until the tribunals are fully staffed, the affected voters will remain disenfranchised, raising concerns about the fairness of the electoral process.
Officials have urged the judiciary to expedite the appointment of new judges to ensure that all pending appeals are resolved before the bypolls take place.
The resignations were attributed to various functional issues within the tribunals, leaving the commission scrambling to fill the gaps. As a consequence, 19,000 voters in West Bengal are unable to participate in the forthcoming bypolls because their appeals have not been heard.
The Election Commission and state authorities have announced that they are actively seeking replacements for the vacant positions. Until the tribunals are fully staffed, the affected voters will remain disenfranchised, raising concerns about the fairness of the electoral process.
Officials have urged the judiciary to expedite the appointment of new judges to ensure that all pending appeals are resolved before the bypolls take place.