A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, agreed to hear the matter earlier than previously scheduled after five affected voters sought urgent relief. The applicants want their appeals against deletion to be decided expeditiously, arguing that the November municipal elections leave little time for the tribunal process to conclude.
During Friday’s hearing, the bench indicated that it would consider asking the appellate tribunals to prioritise cases seeking the restoration of deleted names over appeals seeking the removal of voters.
“We will be asking the tribunals to push back those appeals seeking deletion of names and decide first those which seek inclusion,” Chief Justice Surya Kant said.
The court also acknowledged difficulties faced by the tribunals, with Justice Bagchi pointing to software-related problems affecting the appeals process. The October 16 hearing is expected to address the urgency of resolving these cases before the civic polls.
The court has not yet granted a blanket permission for voters with pending appeals to cast their ballots. Whether such voters can participate in the municipal elections remains a question for consideration.
Five Voters Challenge Their Exclusion
The application was filed in the ongoing West Bengal SIR proceedings through advocate Prashant Bhushan. The five applicants have alleged that their names were removed without adequate notice or reasoned orders explaining the basis for their exclusion.
According to their plea, they had participated in the SIR hearings after being summoned over alleged “logical discrepancies” in their records. Their cases were subsequently marked as “under adjudication”, and they later discovered that their names had been deleted from the electoral rolls.
The applicants approached the appellate tribunals in April. They have now argued that unless their appeals are decided promptly, the legal remedy available to them may prove ineffective for the upcoming civic elections.
The plea also seeks the constitution of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to examine the decision-making process behind the SIR exercise and the original records used to initiate proceedings against voters.
22 Lakh Deleted Voters Have Filed Appeals
The scale of the dispute adds to the urgency. According to figures submitted by the Election Commission of India to the Supreme Court, approximately 27 lakh voters were deleted from West Bengal’s electoral rolls, of whom around 22 lakh filed appeals challenging their exclusion.
The applicants have separately highlighted the pendency of approximately 1.7 lakh appeals in Kolkata and Howrah, where municipal elections are expected in November.
The immediate concern is whether the tribunal process can resolve disputed cases in time for eligible voters to participate in the elections. Delays could leave affected citizens facing uncertainty even as the civic polls approach.
The Supreme Court’s October 16 hearing comes at a critical juncture. The issue is no longer confined to the accuracy of electoral rolls; it also concerns the ability of voters challenging their exclusion to obtain a decision before polling.
