West Bengal SIR : Supreme Court Declines Oral Plea Against Addition Of 7 Lakh New Voters Using Form 6

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain an oral plea made against the addition of nearly 7 lakh new voters in West Bengal using Form 6 after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

Making an oral mention before a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy, appearing for the petitioners challenging the WB SIR process,  referred to press reports regarding the addition of new voters by the Election Commission of India (ECI). She contended that the ECI's action was in violation of the Supreme Court's April 13 order, which allowed the addition of voters only if their appeals against exclusions are allowed by appellate tribunals. She claimed that the addition of voters through Form 6 was not permissible after the cut-off date in terms of the April 13 order.

She added that Justice Bagchi, during the hearing of the West Bengal SIR matter, had orally expressed that Form 6 New Voters added after the qualifying date cannot have voting rights for the present election. "This court's order is being used to file these Form 6 in bulk! This will have an outsized impact on the elections," she said.

The Chief Justice told Guruswamy that the bench cannot entertain a matter like this, unless a petition challenging an order is brought before it.

"You challenge something, we will entertain," CJI said. Guruswamy said that the final roll is not yet published, and only press reports are available at the moment. 

"We will not entertain like this," CJI said.