'First Acquire Citizenship, Then Voter Status': Supreme Court On Plea To Include CAA Applicants In Rolls During SIR

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (December 9) asked how persons who have applied for citizenship on the basis of the relaxation given by the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 can be provisionally included in the voters' list before a final determination of their citizenship status.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a petition filed by an NGO named Aatmadeep seeking directions to include the persons who migrated to India from Bangladesh, and are entitled to Indian citizenship as per the CAA, in the electoral rolls after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal. The petitioner alleged that the applications submitted by several refugees have not been processed.

Senior Advocate Karuna Nundy, for the petitioner, submitted that the applications given by many persons have not been processed yet. She argued that the citizenship rights are meant to accrue on the date of application. While the applications are awaiting processing, the SIR process will "knock them out", she submitted.

The bench however asked how the Court can grant them relief when the competent authority is yet to take a decision on their citizenship. "You are not yet conferred citizenship. The amended law might have given you some rights to seek citizenship. But each and every claim under that Act has to be determined- whether you belong to the specified minority, whether you come from the specified countries, whether you are within India...there is some authority prescribed by the Government of India to determine. Unless those claims are determined, you cannot put the cart before the horse," CJI Kant said.

"First you acquire your citizenship, then the entry into the electoral rolls comes," Justice Bagchi said.

Nundy submitted that there has to be a timeline within which the decision has to be made. She referred to the direction in Basudev Datta v. State of West Bengal where the Court set a 6-month timeline to complete police verification before Government appointments, and sought for a similar timeline for CAA applicants.

The bench pointed out that the petitioner is an NGO and no applicant has personally come forward. The bench said that at best, it can only facilitate the determination of the claims. "We can only facilitate the determination of your status; nothing more we can do," CJI Kant said. Nundy said that such a direction also would be beneficial to the applicants. She sought a direction to dispose of the applications within the timeline specified for naturalisation applications.

She pressed for a direction that the applications received till today be disposed of before February 2026. However, the bench expressed reluctance to specify such a timeline. "That we will not be able to," CJI Kant said.

Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the ECI, submitted that the decision on the CAA applications has to be taken by the Union of India. "We don't have a role to play in citizenship," Dwivedi said.

The bench ultimately issued notice to the Union of India through the office of the Attorney General for India. The bench also asked the petitioner to serve a copy of the petition to the Solicitor General of India.

The matter will be heard next week.

Case Details : AATMADEEP vs. THE UNION OF INDIA| SLP(C) No. 034474 - / 2025