Supreme Court Vows No Stalling of Voter Roll Revision, Ensures No Genuine Voter Is Excluded
The Supreme Court has made it unequivocally clear that it will not permit any disruption to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls currently underway in 12 states, while stressing that legitimate voters must not be wrongly disenfranchised.
During proceedings on Monday, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice N V Anjaria reiterated its commitment to the integrity of the Election Commission’s (EC) exercise aimed at purifying voter lists. The court expressed openness to practical measures that protect eligible electors, particularly in response to concerns raised by West Bengal.
The bench extended the February 7 deadline for submitting documents by one week for those voters—including the 1.36 crore flagged for “logical discrepancy”—who received notices from the EC. This extension is likely to delay the final publication of the revised voter list from February 14 to approximately February 21, allowing additional time for scrutiny and hearings.
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The observations emerged in the context of a plea by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging aspects of the SIR process in her state. The court expressed strong displeasure with the West Bengal government for its initial failure to furnish a list of 8,500 Group B cadre officials to support Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs in the extensive verification effort. Following the bench’s remarks, the state immediately provided the list in court and undertook to assess the officials’ suitability.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Banerjee, contended that the EC’s methodology could result in widespread exclusion, pointing out that roughly 50% of “logical discrepancy” cases involved minor spelling variations, often due to translation issues between Bengali and other scripts. The bench described this as “speculative apprehension” and assured that officials inducted from the state’s list would assist EROs and AEROs in addressing such minor discrepancies, thereby facilitating inclusion where justified.
The court rejected West Bengal’s objections to the deployment of micro-observers from central public sector undertakings and Union government sources, clarifying that these personnel would merely assist EROs and AEROs, with final authority on voter inclusion or deletion resting exclusively with the EROs.
The bench further directed West Bengal’s Director General of Police to submit a personal affidavit responding to the EC’s allegations that Trinamool Congress (TMC) functionaries were attempting to obstruct the SIR process through threats and disruptions. It remarked pointedly, “We hope the state remembers the laws of the land.”
The court declined to interfere in the EC’s internal procedures, such as processing anonymous complaints against voter inclusions, and noted separate allegations from other parties regarding violence against EC officials and the destruction of objection records.
Through its directives, the Supreme Court has underscored the importance of a fair, transparent, and unimpeded revision of electoral rolls to uphold democratic processes.