Supreme Court Seeks Data on West Bengal Voter Roll Appeals
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to file an affidavit providing a detailed breakdown of appeals arising from the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, as reported by The Economic Times and The Hindu. The court sought precise figures on the number of appeals pending and decided, as well as a segregation of appeals by their nature—those seeking inclusion of voters and those seeking exclusion.
The directions were passed by a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana. The bench instructed the ECI to supply a breakup of disposed and pending cases, as noted in The Economic Times report. The court also directed that the SIR process be concluded and all appeals decided at least before the next parliamentary elections in 2029, according to the same report.
The Hindu reported that the hearing came five months after the Supreme Court constituted 19 appellate tribunals to hear appeals from the SIR, with municipal elections in West Bengal drawing near. The court observed that public information regarding the proceedings remains sparse and sought precise statistics before deciding whether additional tribunals are needed.
Petitioner's Allegations and Data
During the hearing, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Neha Rathi appeared for Prasenjit Bose, chairperson of the SIR Committee, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. They submitted that approximately 38 lakh appeals were filed in the 19 tribunals, of which only seven lakh were from disenfranchised voters. The remaining 31 lakh appeals, they alleged, were "shockingly" filed by either the Election Commission or other objectors with the aim of excluding more people from the electoral rolls, as reported by The Hindu.
Sankaranarayanan stated that the figure of 38 lakh appeals was found in a Right to Information (RTI) response received by Lok Sabha MP Isha Khan Choudhury from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's office. The seven-lakh figure was part of a media report quoted in Mr. Bose's application.
The RTI reply also showed that, out of the 38 lakh appeals, approximately 82,000 had been decided so far, with over 75,000 in favor of voters seeking inclusion. This data was cited by the petitioner's counsel to argue that disenfranchised voters should be given priority over the "lion's share" of appeals filed by the EC and other objectors, as reported by The Hindu.
Judge's Remarks and Future Direcections
Justice Joymalya Bagchi, on the bench, observed that exclusion from electoral rolls "denudes them of their voting rights," emphasizing the importance of prioritizing appeals by disenfranchised voters seeking reinclusion. He also remarked that 31 lakh appeals to remove more people was a "very large chunk," as quoted by The Hindu.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee noted that several elections were due, culminating in the Lok Sabha elections in 2029. Chief Justice Kant agreed that everything should be decided before the Parliament elections. The court said it would take a call on constituting more tribunals after obtaining accurate statistics, and asked the ECI to consider a mechanism for updating and streamlining the progress of pending appeals, as reported by The Hindu.
Timing of the Hearing
Sankaranarayanan also mentioned that Kolkata and Howrah municipal polls were expected to be held, with the timing close to December 2026, which underscores the urgency of resolving these appeals, as reported by The Hindu.
The Supreme Court's directive comes amid concerns over the large number of appeals and their impact on voters' rights, with the court seeking to ensure that the electoral roll revision process is concluded in a timely and fair manner.