Today, On 13th April, The Supreme Court said individuals with pending appeals against exclusion from voter lists cannot be allowed to vote in the upcoming West Bengal elections. The Court added, “We cannot create a situation where we burden the appellate tribunal judges,” while refusing relief.
The Supreme Court stated that it cannot allow individuals whose appeals against their exclusion from the voter list are still pending to vote in the upcoming West Bengal elections.
A Bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi made this comment during a hearing of several petitions that challenge the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in the state.
CJI Kant remarked,
“What is the question of allowing them to vote? If we allow this, then let us stop the voting rights of people who are included.”
The Court noted that allowing otherwise would weaken the rights of those already included.
The Bench recorded that over 34 lakh appeals have been filed before appellate tribunals by individuals contesting their exclusion from the voter list.
Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, representing the petitioners challenging the SIR, stated that West Bengal residents look to the Court for clarity.
Arguing that this situation may lead to misunderstandings among the public. He added,
“An impression has been given that all pending cases have been resolved. The April 6 voter list has been published. All voters are under review,”
Justice Bagchi noted that individuals whose appeals are accepted by April 9 would be included in the voter list. He pointed out that even if the adjudication happens a few days later, their names would still be considered in time for the elections, saying,
“If adjudication is completed by April 9 even a few days later, the electoral roll will include their names for the elections. That was clarified earlier.”
However, the Court repeated that it could not allow those with pending cases to vote.
CJI Kant said,
“We cannot create a situation where we put extra pressure on the appellate tribunal judges. There is another plea with us today that stops the appeals.”
Separately, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) submitted a status report on its investigation into the gherao of judicial officers in Malda district on April 1 by protesters seeking to reverse their removal from the voter list.
CJI Kant directed the agency to provide details about the political connections of the accused.
The Court stated,
“We want to know if any of these arrested individuals had any political background. We don’t want this to be an academic exercise. This must be taken to a logical conclusion.”
Seven judicial officers, including three women judges, involved in the SIR of electoral rolls were held for hours in Malda district on April 1.
The Court then initiated a suo motu case. During the hearing on April 2, it ordered the deployment of central armed forces to protect the judicial officers and directed that the Malda incident be investigated by central agencies.
In the latest proceedings, the Court noted that judicial officers involved in the SIR process have decided over 60.04 lakh cases and that more than 34.35 lakh appeals had been filed before the appellate tribunals to date.
The Bench ordered that the security provided to the judicial officers should not be withdrawn without the Court’s permission.
It also stated,
“We appreciate the dedication and enthusiasm of judicial officers. We have no reason to doubt that former chief justices and judges of the appellate tribunals will continue their work to uphold due process.”
Earlier, On February 24, the court permitted the deployment of West Bengal civil judges alongside 250 district judges, and authorized the requisition of judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha, to address roughly 8 million claims and objections from those facing deletion during the SIR.
Click Here to Read More Reports on West Bengal’s SIR
Case Title : QUARAISHA YEASMIN AND ORS. v. THE ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 462/2026