Kolkata: Former Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, T S Sivagnanam, has resigned from the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) Appellate Tribunal constituted to hear appeals from voters excluded from West Bengal's electoral rolls ahead of the recently concluded Assembly elections.
Justice Sivagnanam was among 19 retired and serving judges appointed as appellate authorities by the Election Commission of India following directions of the Supreme Court of India to oversee grievances arising out of the controversial SIR exercise.
The resignation of Sivagnanam, if accepted by the apex court, is likely to delay the SIR appeal process further.
Sources said the former Chief Justice stepped down, citing personal reasons. His resignation comes amid continuing debate over the large-scale exclusion of names during the revision process, which had triggered political and legal challenges across the state.
According to official figures, more than 90 lakh names were removed from the draft electoral rolls during the exercise. Of them, nearly 27 lakh individuals approached the appellate tribunals seeking restoration of their voting rights.
Despite the large number of appeals, only 136 persons were reportedly reinstated through the appellate mechanism before polling for the 2026 Assembly elections.
Among those who challenged their exclusion was former Calcutta High Court judge Sahidullah Munshi along with members of his family. Their names were later restored to the electoral rolls after an appeal.
The SIR process had drawn widespread criticism from opposition parties and civil society groups, who alleged arbitrary deletions and lack of transparency in the
revision exercise.