SC asks election duty officers excluded from voter roll to approach appellate tribunal in Bengal SIR row

The Supreme Court of India on Friday declined to entertain petitions filed by individuals whose names were deleted from the electoral roll in West Bengal following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), directing them to approach appellate tribunals set up to hear such grievances. The petitioners, some of whom are currently on election duty, had challenged their exclusion from the voter list despite holding valid electoral identification details.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi observed that the appropriate forum for redressal lies with the designated tribunals and allowed the petitioners to pursue their appeals there. Senior counsel representing the petitioners argued that several individuals on election duty had been removed from the rolls without prior notice, calling the situation arbitrary. However, the court maintained that the statutory mechanism must be followed.

The court also noted that appeals against such exclusions had already been filed and should be addressed by the tribunals in due course. It reiterated that mere pendency of appeals does not confer the right to vote and referred to its earlier direction that only those whose appeals are decided in their favour before specified deadlines would be eligible to participate in the respective phases of polling.

During the hearing, the court also expressed satisfaction over the peaceful conduct of the first phase of Assembly elections in West Bengal, which recorded a historic voter turnout of over 92%. It acknowledged the smooth and violence-free polling process, even as the second phase of elections is scheduled to take place on April 29, with a large number of appeals still pending before the tribunals.