The Election Commission of India (ECI) has disputed Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien’s claim that deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls affected the results in 31 West Bengal Assembly constituencies where the AITC lost.
In its reply before the Supreme Court, the ECI said O’Brien’s figures improperly clubbed Absentee, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) deletions with deletions made after adjudication by Judicial Officers.
The Commission said ASDD entries were removed after verification under the SIR process and were not adjudicated by Judicial Officers. Notices were issued only in cases referred for adjudication.
The ECI further submitted that, after excluding ASDD deletions, O’Brien’s own data showed that in several constituencies the number of adjudicated deletions was lower than the margin of defeat. It cited Dinhata, Khargram (SC), Bally and Howrah Uttar as examples.
The Commission also pointed to 21 constituencies won by AITC candidates where adjudicated deletions exceeded the victory margin. In Sitai (SC), for instance, the victory margin was 2,721 votes against 20,213 adjudicated deletions, while in Samserganj the figures were 7,587 and 74,775 respectively.
The ECI argued that applying the margin-versus-deletion test selectively was therefore untenable.
It also relied on Article 329(b) of the Constitution, submitting that an election can be challenged only through an election petition and that defects in electoral rolls cannot, by themselves, be used to invalidate an election.
The response was filed against O’Brien’s plea seeking, among other reliefs, setting aside of results in 31 constituencies and fresh polling based on the revised electoral rolls. The Supreme Court had earlier asked whether it could direct fresh elections in the constituencies concerned.
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