“We will find some solution,” Chief Justice of India Surya Kant told counsel for voters whose names were deleted in the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision, as the Supreme Court agreed to take up their plea on October 16. The Court indicated it is weighing priority for appeals seeking inclusion of deleted voters, so that those appeals can be decided before municipal elections.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to list on October 16 a petition filed by voters whose names were deleted during the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision (SIR), after Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocate Prashant Bhushan told the Court that the voters’ appeals before the tribunals are pending and that municipal elections are approaching [West Bengal SIR Matter].
The matter was mentioned before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, which included Justice Joymalya Bagchi. The Court has not yet decided the petition or issued any directions.
The mentioning
Mr Sankaranarayanan told the Court: “We have already missed the by-elections. Now municipal elections are coming up.” He urged the Court to take the appeals up on priority, submitting that the tribunals have managed to dispose of only 1.20 lakh appeals in six months, and that 93% of the appeals decided so far have been allowed. The tribunals, he said, will need sufficient time because the elections have to be notified by November 15, and he suggested that appeals concerning voters in municipal bodies where elections are due should receive priority.
Mr Bhushan submitted that the petitions are filed on behalf of deleted voters whose appeals are pending before the tribunals, and that the question is whether they will be able to vote in the municipal elections. He said more than one lakh appeals seeking inclusion have already been decided, and that 93% of those were found eligible for inclusion. These figures are counsel’s submissions; the Court has not verified them.
What the Bench said
The Chief Justice said the Court is already working on the issues relating to the appeals. He indicated that the Court is considering two priorities:
“There are two priorities we are contemplating. One is that appeals filed by persons seeking deletion of voters can be pushed back and taken up at the last stage.”
Counsel agreed that appeals seeking inclusion should be taken up first. On Mr Bhushan’s submission that the question is whether voters whose appeals remain pending should be allowed to vote in the municipal elections so that they are not disenfranchised, the Chief Justice said the Court would address that question on the next date.
Justice Bagchi remarked that technology, methodology and fairness have to match, and said there is feedback that is intrinsically related to issues the Court needs to “thrash out”, including the architecture of the software. The Chief Justice added that some members of the tribunals have also expressed concerns, and that more than one issue needs to be addressed.
The date
Mr Bhushan said the voters’ only worry was that they had already missed the by-elections and would miss another election, and asked for an early date, perhaps the following week. Mr Sankaranarayanan noted that the tribunals would lose another two weeks if the matter were heard later. The Chief Justice said he would find out from the Registry whether Friday, October 16 was possible; earlier in the hearing he had mentioned October 30, and had said October 29 was the best alternative. Justice Bagchi then said the matter could be kept on October 16, and the Court scheduled it for that date. Counsel thanked the Bench.
No order on the petition has been passed, and no view is expressed here on the figures cited by counsel or on the merits of the voters’ claims.
Case Details: West Bengal SIR matter (petition by voters deleted in the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision) | Court: Supreme Court of India | Bench: CJI Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi | Mentioned: October 9, 2026 | Next date: October 16, 2026 | Status: Listed; no order on the merits. Case number not reported.
Appearances: Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Advocate Prashant Bhushan, for the petitioning voters.