The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told the Supreme Court that the appeals filed against the inclusion of voters in West Bengal's electoral rolls were filed by officers of the State Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) and that the matters were never placed before the ECI.

The disclosure is part of the ECI's counter affidavit to petitions that question the functioning of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). One of the contentions raised in the petitions is that it was not clear which authority had permitted the filing of these appeals.

The ECI answered that question in its affidavit, relying on a letter from the West Bengal CEO's office dated October 22, 2026. The affidavit was filed four days later.

"It is submitted that a communication dt. 22.10.2026 has been received by the office of the ECI from the office of the CEO, West Bengal, stating that the said Appeals have been filed by the officers of the Office of the CEO, West Bengal, in their capacity as authorities under the RP Act...The officers had the authority to file the Appeals as per the orders of this Hon'ble Court and these matters were not brought to the Commission."

The Commission also described the voters against whom the appeals were filed. Their names are already in the electoral rolls and they were entitled to vote in the recent Assembly elections, it said.

"Their documents are available on the portal and there is a favourable order passed by the Ld. Judicial Officer in their favour," the affidavit said.

To support the CEO office's authority to file the appeals, the ECI relied on two Supreme Court orders from April 2026 in the West Bengal SIR matter.

The order of April 1 recorded that the appellate tribunals would decide appeals filed by people excluded from the rolls, or "by the authorities of the Election Commission of India, who may be aggrieved by the inclusion of names by the adjudicatory authorities."

The order of April 6 noted that the ECI had notified 19 appellate tribunals on March 20, 2026, headed by former Chief Justices and senior judges of High Courts.

The ECI also pointed out that under the Representation of the People Act, the CEO, District Election Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers are the authorities in respect of electoral rolls.

The affidavit does not say how many appeals were filed, who in the CEO's office approved them, or on what grounds.

The ECI had earlier told the Supreme Court on September 16,that West Bengal had 38,31,429 appeals, including 22,21,118 from excluded electors and 16,10,311 challenging voter inclusion. The Commission did not disclose the source of the latter appeals in that submission.

The ECI has now said, on oath, that the challenges to inclusion came from the State CEO's office and not from the Commission itself.The affidavit was approved by a unanimous decision of the Chief Election Commissioner and the two Election Commissioners.

The Commission filed a short reply due to the Dussehra vacation and has sought liberty to file a detailed para-wise response.