‘It is only bypolls’: Supreme Court assures hearing in West Bengal SIR on October 5
You don’t have any Active Subscription.
Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription
People submit their applications to the appellate tribunal set up to hear appeals related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, at Suri, in Birbhum district, West Bengal. File. | Photo Credit: PTI
The Supreme Court on Monday (September 28, 2026) assured a hearing in the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision (SIR) on October 5, on the eve of bypolls in the State.
Appearing before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, heading a three-judge Bench, a counsel orally mentioned that the case had earlier been listed on September 29.
He said the bypolls to Nandigram and Rejinagar Assembly constituencies were scheduled on October 6. The counsel said thousands of appeals filed by voters against their exclusion from the State electoral roll were still pending.
“This is the second time these people have been missing out on their vote,” the counsel submitted.
The lawyer was referring to the April 2026 Legislative Assembly elections which saw the BJP government led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari come to power in the State.
“It is only bypolls,” Chief Justice remarked. The CJI said appeals would not be deleted from causelist on October 5, but did not advance the hearing.
Recently, an affidavit filed by the Election Commission of India (EC) in the Supreme Court had revealed that over 22 lakh voters, of 27 lakh voters purged from the electoral roll during SIR exercise, had filed appeals challenging their exclusion.
The EC’s figure of 22,21,118 appeals by excluded voters is striking, particularly given that judicial officers, actively deployed during the SIR verification phase, had already adjudicated these claims and objections.
The affidavit had said that 16.10 lakh appeals had been filed against inclusion.
The poll body had said a total of 38.31 lakh appeals were filed in the tribunals. As of September, the 19 tribunals have decided only 1,26,194 appeals. The number of pending appeals currently before the tribunals exceed 37.05 lakh.
The EC itself had said it was open to a suggestion from the court to increase the number of appellate tribunals from 19 to 42.
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.
