The Supreme Court of India has ruled that voters in West Bengal who are cleared by appellate tribunals at least two days before polling will be allowed to vote in the upcoming State Assembly elections. The elections are scheduled in two phases on April 23 and April 29, meaning eligible voters approved by April 21 or April 27 will be included. The Bench led by Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi invoked its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure fair implementation of voting rights. The Court clarified that tribunal decisions must be reflected through a supplementary revised electoral roll issued by the Election Commission of India before polling dates.
The ruling comes amid disputes over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, which led to the deletion of millions of names and tensions between the Election Commission and the state government. To address concerns over transparency and trust, the Court had earlier assigned the revision process to judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha, and Jharkhand. Around 900 judicial officers reviewed nearly 60 lakh objections, resulting in approximately 27 lakh exclusions. To ensure fairness, appellate tribunals were later established, and currently, 19 such bodies are operational, handling over 34 lakh appeals related to voter list inclusions and exclusions.
However, the Court declined to grant interim relief to individuals whose appeals are still pending, stating that allowing them to vote could create legal complications and disrupt the electoral process. It emphasized that only those whose appeals are conclusively decided in their favor will gain voting rights. The Court also noted that the appellate tribunals are fully functional, with proper training and procedures in place, and praised the judicial officers for completing this large-scale exercise under challenging circumstances. This landmark directive aims to balance electoral integrity with individual voting rights ahead of the crucial West Bengal Assembly elections.