“Deleted voters exceeded winning margins in 31 Bengal seats”: TMC raises SIR issue in SC

The Trinamool Congress on Monday told the Supreme Court of India that voter deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal materially affected the results of several Assembly constituencies. Appearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee stated that in at least 31 constituencies, the BJP’s margin of victory was lower than the number of voters removed during the SIR process.

During the hearing, Kalyan Banerjee cited the example of the Jangipara Assembly constituency, where BJP candidate Prasenjit Bag defeated TMC candidate Snehasis Chakraborty by 862 votes, while more than 5,000 voters were deleted from the electoral rolls. He submitted that nearly 35 lakh appeals against voter deletions remained pending before appellate tribunals and claimed that the overall vote difference between the BJP and the TMC in the state was approximately 32 lakh votes.

The bench observed that any claims regarding election results allegedly being affected by voter deletions would require separate legal proceedings. Justice Joymalya Bagchi stated that parties were at liberty to file an independent interlocutory application concerning the issue. The court also referred to earlier observations that cases involving narrow victory margins and disputed voter deletions may require judicial examination.

Senior advocate Menaka Guruswamy raised concerns regarding delays in the disposal of appeals related to voter deletions. She informed the court that, at the current pace, appellate tribunals could take nearly four years to clear the pending cases. The bench responded that the priority would be to ensure that the appeals are decided expeditiously and indicated that a report regarding timelines for disposal would be sought.

Representing the Election Commission of India, senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu argued that election petitions remained the appropriate legal remedy for disputes related to electoral outcomes. The court reiterated that concerns linked to election results and voter deletions could be raised through separate applications while the issue of pending appeals before appellate tribunals would continue to be examined.