West Bengal SIR | 'ECI Could Not Furnish Reasons' : Appellate Tribunal Restores Deleted INC Candidate To Voter List

Acting on the Supreme Court's direction to decide his plea urgently, the Appellate Tribunal for Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal on Sunday set aside the deletion of Indian National Congress candidate Motab Shaikh's name from the electoral roll.The Tribunal, headed by former Calcutta HC CJ Justice TS Sivagnanam, observed that the Election Commission of India could not place the reasons for his exclusion. “The Tribunal desired to see the reasons given by the Adjudicating Judicial Officer to examine the basis on which the appellant's name was excluded. It appears that for technical reasons that information/reasons could not be placed before the tribunal by the Election Commission of India,” the Tribunal said, deciding to examine the available records on its own.Shaikh had approached the Supreme Court after his name was included in the 'Adjudication Deletion List' during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, which resulted in his removal from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal Assembly elections scheduled later this month. He sought restoration of his name and permission to contest the elections as an INC candidate.On April 2, the Supreme Court noted that Appellate Tribunals had become functional and directed Shaikh to approach the Tribunal headed by Justice TS Sivagnanam, former Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court. The Court requested that his appeal be decided with the assistance of the Election Commission preferably by the forenoon of April 6. Pursuant to these directions, the Tribunal took up the appeal on April 5.Before the Tribunal, Shaikh submitted that he had been nominated as a candidate of a national political party from the Farakka constituency and sought urgent relief.The Tribunal noted that the dispute arose from discrepancies in the spelling of his name across electoral records. In the voters' list published on December 16, 2025 with January 1, 2026 as the base date, his name appeared as “Motab Shaikh.” A notice issued for hearing on January 29, 2026 cited a discrepancy in the name of the appellant or his father. The Tribunal noted that there was no discrepancy in the father's name, but the irrelevant portion in the notice had not been struck off. The only issued to be decided was regarding the appellant's name, the Tribunal said.Since the Election Commission did not place the reasons for deletion, the Tribunal examined the documents produced by the appellant. It found that his Aadhaar card, passport, and driving licence consistently reflected his name as Motab Shaikh. Further, birth certificate of his four children referred to Motab Shaikh as father.Relying on the Supreme Court's order dated September 8, 2025 in Association for Democratic Reforms v. Election Commission of India, the Tribunal noted that Aadhaar card, though not proof of citizenship under Section 23(4) of the Representation of the Peoples Act, 1950, is a valid document to establish identity. On that basis, it held that Shaikh's identity stood established.“If this decision is applied to the facts of the appellant's case it would squarely support the appellant as the Aadhar Card shows the name of the appellant as Motabh Shaikh. This would be sufficient to accept the case of the appellant”, it said.It also noted an affidavit dated April 3, 2002 submitted before a notary public to correct his name, following which a voter ID card was issued showing his name as Motab Sk, son of Ejabul Sekh. The Tribunal observed that these records appeared not to have been considered during the adjudication process, as the adjudication officer could not give any reason for deletion. The Tribunal also recorded that there was no discrepancy in the names of his family members, all of whom were included in the voters' list.Holding that Shaikh had made out a case, the Tribunal allowed the appeal and directed the Election Commission of India to include his name in the list of valid voters by publishing it in the supplementary list.Click here to read the order

West Bengal SIR | 'ECI Could Not Furnish Reasons' : Appellate Tribunal Restores Deleted INC Candidate To Voter List

Amisha Shrivastava

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