The affidavit, submitted before Justice Amrita Sinha, stated that “preparatory steps” for the revision process are in motion and that a formal notification would follow in due course. The court had earlier sought clarity from the poll panel after allegations surfaced regarding the issuance of fake birth and domicile certificates to non-citizens, allegedly to manipulate voter lists.
The case stems from a complaint lodged by an assistant systems manager at Kakdwip in South 24-Parganas, who raised concerns over fraudulent documents being used. The petitioner is currently under suspension. Counsel for the complainant referred to the court’s July 14 order, which had highlighted the alleged issuance of 3,558 fake online birth certificates and 558 fake death certificates by the Pathankhali Gram Panchayat in the district.
Responding to these allegations, the ECI assured the court that the ongoing revision process would “weed out” all ineligible entries from the rolls. At the same time, counsel for the Commission informed the court that disciplinary action had been initiated against the complainant, who was accused of attempting to change the login credentials of an official.
Investigating agencies told the court that the suspended employee, who has sought anticipatory bail, was not cooperating with the probe and had failed to submit the SIM card allegedly used at the time of the offence. Justice Sinha directed the agency to serve the petitioner with a notice clearly specifying the documents required for the investigation and asked the petitioner to extend full cooperation.
The anticipatory bail plea was not taken up at Wednesday’s hearing and has been scheduled for September 24. In the meantime, the court granted the petitioner protection from arrest until November 11.
Meanwhile, reports emerging on Wednesday also indicated that, beyond West Bengal, the Election Commission is preparing to initiate a nationwide revision of electoral rolls from October. This follows a review meeting held recently with Chief Electoral Officers from all states and Union Territories.
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