SC refuses to hear plea by West Bengal election duty officers over SIR roll deletion
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi said the petitioners should first approach the Appellate Tribunals constituted to deal with disputes arising out of the SIR process.
The plea filed by Md Tohidul Islam and others alleged that the names of the petitioners, many of whom were appointed as Presiding Officers and First Polling Officers for the West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026, were “arbitrarily and erroneously” deleted from the final electoral rolls, thereby violating their constitutional right to vote under Article 326.
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According to the petition, the affected officials were formally appointed to election duty under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and were entitled to postal votes under Rule 18A of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
But the removal of their names from the records made them ineligible even for this facility, leading to their “total disenfranchisement”.
Despite these submissions, the apex court refused to exercise writ jurisdiction, observing that the petitioners should first approach the Appellate Tribunals set up to pass orders arising from the SIR of electoral rolls. “Make these arguments before the appellate court. Let the court examine the matter,” the CJI-led Bench said and disposed of the matter.
Earlier, the Supreme Court had clarified that persons excluded from the revised electoral rolls would be entitled to vote only if their appeals were accepted by the Appellate Tribunals within the stipulated time periods, and mere pendency of the appeal would not entitle them to vote.
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The apex court had also directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to implement the court orders by publishing additional voter lists ahead of the polls.
The issue forms part of a larger group of petitions regarding SIR in West Bengal; The first phase of voting was held on April 23, and the second phase is planned to be held on April 29.
