The Supreme Court has refused to hear the petition of people removed from the voter list under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal. On Monday (April 13, 2026), the court has directed the petitioners to approach the Appellate Tribunal.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the petitioners (Quresha Yasmin and others) have already approached the Appellate Tribunal… In our opinion, the apprehensions expressed in the petition are premature. The petition alleged that the Election Commission has arbitrarily removed the names without following proper procedure, and the appeals filed against it are not being heard in time.
The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court has constituted 19 tribunals headed by former Chief Justices and judges of the High Court to decide on appeals against deletion of names from the voter list. Senior advocate DS Naidu, appearing for the Election Commission, informed the court that currently around 30 to 34 lakh appeals are pending.
The bench said, ‘Each tribunal now has more than one lakh appeals to dispose of.’ Counsel for the petitioners argued that the Election Commission has failed to submit necessary orders before the judicial authorities concerned and the last date for voter list should be extended.
The lawyer said, ‘If I am not allowed to argue, then what is the use? Will these appeals be decided within a fixed time frame or will they simply be taken forward?’ During the hearing, Justice Bagchi, while referring to the purity of the electoral process, said that the right to vote is not just a constitutional formality, but an emotional pillar of democracy.
Justice Bagchi said, ‘The right to vote in the country where you are born is not only constitutional but also emotional. It’s about being part of democracy and helping elect the government. We need to protect this right. We cannot get confused in the storm, bustle and noise of the upcoming assembly elections. However, he said that additional burden cannot be imposed on tribunals by setting deadlines for decisions.
“We have to protect the rights to due process,” he said. The voter should not be trapped between two constitutional authorities. He also said that no obstruction will be created in the election process at this stage. Justice Bagchi said that the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court had already prepared the process and format of the appeal, which started from Monday.
The bench said, ‘Unless a large number of voters are excluded from voting or it does not have a significant impact on the election… the election cannot be cancelled.’ The court said that the purpose of judicial intervention is to promote elections, not to stop them. The Chief Justice emphasized that the petitioners should exhaust all their legal remedies before the appellate tribunals. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on 23rd and 29th April and counting of votes will take place on 4th May.
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