West Bengal SIR : Supreme Court Allows Excluded Persons To Vote If Appeals Allowed Before April 21/27

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to issue a supplementary revised electoral roll to include voters whose appeals against deletion of their names are allowed by the Appellate Tribunals before specified cut-off dates, so that they can exercise their franchise in the upcoming phases of polling in West Bengal.The Court has directed that the appellants, whose appeals against exclusion from the rolls are allowed by Appellate Tribunals before April 21 (for the first phase) or April 27 (for the second phase), should be included in the supplementary rolls, so that they can cast their vote on the respective polling dates - April 23 (for first phase) and April 29(for second phase).The Court observed that if an appeal is allowed by the Appellate Tribunal and a conclusive direction for inclusion or exclusion is issued, such directions shall be duly effectuated before the State of West Bengal proceeds to polling on April 23 or April 29.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi observed :"We, therefore, invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and direct the ECI that, wherever the Appellate Tribunals are able to decide the appeals by 21.04.2026 or 27.04.2026, as the case may be, such appellate orders shall be given effect to by issuing a supplementary revised electoral roll, and all necessary consequences with respect to the right to vote shall follow."The bench further clarified that merely filing an appeal against exclusion from the electoral roll would not entitle a person to vote."However, it goes without saying that the mere pendency of appeals preferred by excluded persons before the Appellate Tribunals shall not entitle them to exercise their right to vote."The order was passed in the West Bengal SIR matters which was heard on Monday (April 13). However, the order was uploaded today afternoon.During the hearing, the petitioners had urged the Court to ensure that the persons whose appeals are allowed be permitted to vote. The Election Commission had earlier forzen the voter roll for the first phase elections on April 9.The Court had indicated during the hearing that it would consider allowing supplementary lists, but affirmed that it would not allow voting rights for excluded persons merely becasue the appeal is pending.The directions were passed in a batch of petitions concerning the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, where individuals whose names were deleted had approached the Court seeking restoration and interim voting rights.The Court however rejected the prayer to grant interim voting rights to persons during the pendency of their appeals. If that is allowed, then interim exclusions will also have to be ordered, if appeals against exclusions are pending, the Court reasoned."If such a scenario were to be permitted to subsist, the consequence would be that objectors may likewise seek denial of the right to vote to those individuals whose names appear in the revised electoral roll, but against whom such objectors have preferred appeals. The resultant situation would effectively recreate the very state of affairs that existed prior to the entrustment of the verification exercise to the Judicial Officers. This, in our considered view, cannot be permitted, particularly when Judicial Officers from the State of West Bengal, duly assisted by Judicial Officers from the States of Jharkhand and Odisha, have completed what can only be described as a truly herculean task within a remarkably short span of time."Court Notes Completion Of Massive Verification ExerciseIn the order, the Court recorded that judicial officers from West Bengal, assisted by officers from Jharkhand and Odisha, had completed the task of deciding more than sixty lakh objections in the SIR process within a short period.It noted that over thirty-four lakh appeals have already been filed before the Appellate Tribunals, including both claims of wrongful exclusion and objections to alleged wrongful inclusion. The Court also acknowledged and appreciated the efforts of the judicial officers involved, describing the exercise as a "truly herculean task" carried out under challenging circumstances.Disposing of one of the writ petitions, the Court observed that apprehensions raised by the petitioners were premature since the appellate mechanism is already operational and capable of granting relief where warranted.It clarified that if a petitioner's appeal is allowed, the necessary consequences regarding inclusion in the electoral roll and the right to vote would follow.The Court directed that the main batch of matters concerning the SIR process be listed for further hearing on April 24, 2026.-Appearance: Senior Advocates Rauf Rahim, Kapil Sibal, Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kalyan Banerjee, Shyam Divan, Menaka Guruswamy, Gopal Sankaranarayanan, V Giri, BR Bhattacharya, PC Sen, Jaideep Gupta and DS Naidu (for ECI).Case : Mostari Banu v ...

West Bengal SIR : Supreme Court Allows Excluded Persons To Vote If Appeals Allowed Before April 21/27

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The Court however clarified that mere pendency of appeal will not confer voting rights.

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