West Bengal SIR: Supreme Court to hear plea to allow excluded voters under appeal to vote for upcoming municipal elections

The Supreme Court on Friday said that it will hear the case concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal on October 16.

Pertinently, the Court on that date will consider whether voters excluded during the SIR process and who have filed appeals against the exclusion, should be allowed to vote for the upcoming municipal elections in the State.

A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana advanced the hearing amid concerns that voters whose appeals against exclusion from the electoral rolls remain pending may miss the November municipal elections.

The Court also discussed prioritising appeals seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls over those seeking deletion of voters.

"There are two priorities we are contemplating. One is that appeals filed by persons seeking deletion of voters can be pushed back and taken up at the last stage," said CJI Kant.

The Court was informed that more than one lakh appeals seeking inclusion in the electoral rolls had been decided, with 93% of applicants found eligible for inclusion. Around 1.70 lakh appeals remain pending, counsel told the Court.

Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing in the matter, urged the Court to prioritise appeals concerning voters in municipal areas where elections are due in November. He said that tribunals would need sufficient time to decide these appeals, adding that the elections would have to be notified by November 15.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, also appearing in the matter, highlighted the risk that voters whose appeals remained undecided could be unable to vote in the upcoming elections.

“These are deleted voters on whose behalf the petitions have been filed. Their appeals are pending before the tribunals. Municipal elections are due in November. The question is whether they will be able to vote in those elections,” he said.

The Court said that it was already considering the issue and would examine whether a solution could be found at the next hearing.

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