Will Take Up West Bengal Voter Roll Revision Issue Later, Says Supreme Court In Bihar SIR Matter

During the hearing of the Bihar SIR matter, the Supreme Court today said that it is not going to take up the issue regarding the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal for the time being."Bengal can wait, nothing is happening right now", a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said.Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who was appearing for the Association for Democratic Reforms in the Bihar case, independently made submissions on behalf of the State of West Bengal. He said that the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal has made a statement that the State is ready for the SIR, without any consultation with the State Government. When he raised this issue, Justice Kant said, "[In] State of West Bengal...nothing is happening right now". Reportedly, the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal has written to ECI saying that the state is ready with preparations for SIR. When Senior Advocate Kalyan Banerjee, who is also an MP belonging to the Trinamool Congress, raised the issue, Justice Kant replied, "[West] Bengal can wait for the time being...we will fix a date".Notably, Banerjee submitted that yesterday, 3 women attempted suicide (by self-immolation) before the Calcutta High Court over apprehension of voter list deletion. On this, Justice Kant said, "It's very difficult for us to examine individual claims. We will go into broad principles, which will be same for states, subject to local conditions".Given permission to briefly state his submission, Banerjee stressed on Rule 26A of the Registration of Electors' Rules, 1960, which provides for integration of list of amendments with reference to qualifying date as specified in sub-Rule (1) with the last published roll, and questioned how it could be ignored by ECI.At this point, Justice Kant assured that the same will be examined and Banerjee would be heard when the turn of West Bengal comes. It is apposite to mention that the State of West Bengal is scheduled to have its Assembly elections in 2026. Also from the hearing - Bihar SIR| Supreme Court Refers To S.21(3) RP Act; Asks If ECI Doesn't Have Residual Power For Special Intensive RevisionCase Title: ASSOCIATION FOR DEMOCRATIC REFORMS AND ORS. Versus ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 640/2025 (and connected cases) Click Here To Read/Download Order

Will Take Up West Bengal Voter Roll Revision Issue Later, Says Supreme Court In Bihar SIR Matter

Debby Jain

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