The Supreme Court on Monday refused to set a deadline for the 19 appellate tribunals to decide appeals against 20 lakh exclusions after disposal of 60 lakh claims and objections of those removed from voters’ lists in the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal.“Of the 60 lakh cases, available data of 44 lakh cases indicates that the inclusion rate is about 55 per cent, which is 24 lakh, and the exclusion rate is 45 per cent, which is 20 lakh,” senior counsel Shyam Divan submitted on behalf of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.Noting that the rejection rate was very high despite the judicial safeguards, Divan pointed out, “These were mapped individuals. Almost seven lakh have already filed and several lakh appeals are in process of being filed. Appellate tribunals are yet to be fully operational.”Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing the West Bengal Government, said appellate tribunals should pass interim orders for those prima facie found to be wrongly excluded from electoral rolls as there was not much time left.However, the Bench said the voter list needed to be frozen now in view of the ensuing elections.“Tribunals will go on hearing and we do not want to rush it, but we need to freeze the list somewhere. One layer of adjudication is done by the judicial officers. The appellate process can take a month or even 60 days, but just because they are mapped does not mean…” Justice Bagchi said.After perusing the video of a woman judicial officer expressing anxiety over the safety of her kith and kin, the top court made it clear that “the central forces will not be withdrawn from West Bengal looking at the way things have happened in the recent past”.The Bench asked Suprabuddhe Sen, the 88-year-old grandson of legendary artist Nandalal Bose, to approach the appellate tribunal after his name was deleted from the voters’ list during the SIR exercise. Nandalal Bose was a pioneer of modern Indian art and is celebrated for illustrating the original manuscript of the Constitution and creating the iconic Haripura posters.Noting that the 19 appellate tribunals consisted of former chief justices and judges, the Bench said, “We will leave it to the appellate tribunals.”The CJI asked the Calcutta High Court Chief Justice to constitute a three-member panel of former senior judges to frame uniform procedures for these tribunals.As senior advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay said the names cleared by tribunals till April 21 should be permitted to vote in the elections, the Bench said, “Appeal is an adjudicatory process on natural justice…appeals will cross lakhs… 19 tribunals put on a deadline will create chaos.”The EC had become the “Exclusion Commission of India”, Bandopadhyay commented.“Less said the better about you,” senior counsel DS Naidu responded on behalf of the EC.Earlier, citing a letter received from Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul, the CJI said around 60 lakh claims and objections of those removed from voters’ lists in the SIR would be decided by Monday evening.It expressed concern over reported threats and obstruction faced by judicial officers during the revision process and warned that if state machinery failed to ensure safety, it would consider appropriate measures.Naidu informed the Bench that the remaining claims would be decided during the day and that a supplementary electoral roll would be published later by Monday night.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said a judicial officer was interviewed by a journalist who said her life was in danger and that if something happened to her, then her children should be taken care of.