West Bengal SIR: Supreme Court considers courts to first hear struck-off voters seeking re-inclusion

NEW DELHI, 18/08/2025 – A view of the Supreme Court of India on August 18, 2025. Photo: DEEPIKA RAJESH / INTERN / THE HINDU. | Photo Credit: Deepika Rajesh

The Supreme Court on Friday (October 9, 2026) orally suggested that thousands of voters seeking inclusion in the electoral roll of West Bengal deserve to be heard first, while appeals against exclusion pending before appellate tribunals could be heard last.

An affidavit filed by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in the Supreme Court in September 2026 revealed that more than 22 million voters struck off the electoral roll during the Special Intensive Review (SIR) in West Bengal on grounds such as “logical inconsistencies” had filed appeals against their exclusion.

The EC affidavit stated that 16.10 lakh appeals were filed against the listing. The survey body said a total of 38.31 lakh appeals were filed in the tribunals in the state.

The 19 appellate tribunals are facing a massive backlog, with 37.05 lakh of the 38.31 lakh appeals currently stuck in limbo. At the current rate, it will take more than 12 years to clear the backlog, argued one of the proponents, Congress leader Prasenjit Bose.

Courts of appeal have so far, according to EC statistics, disposed of only 3% of the total number of appeals filed, and 93% of these disposed appeals resulted in the inclusion of voters in the voter lists.

In an oral submission, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who appeared for Mr Bose, and advocates Prashant Bhushan and Neha Rathi, who represented the five unidentified voters, said incompetent voters in the state had already missed both the May 2026 assembly elections and the recent by-elections.

Lawyers said those voters should be allowed to cast their ballots in local elections scheduled for November 2026, regardless of whether their appeals were heard at the tribunal.

“In the last six months, the tribunals have decided more than one million appeals, of which 93% have been decided in favor of deleted voters and ordered their reinstatement in the electoral roll. Keeping this in mind, voters whose reinstatement appeals are pending should be allowed to vote in municipal elections,” Mr. Bhushan said.

He said that the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation elections were coming up and voters in these areas whose appeals were pending before the tribunals should have their cases decided on priority.

“We are already working on the issue of pending appeals. We will find a solution through the media (middle way). There are appeals of persons seeking inclusion. They will be taken up first… first will be inclusion,” Chief Justice Surya Kant said orally.

Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the tribunals were “taking their time” with the appeals. He noted that the Court had received feedback that was intrinsically related to issues such as software architecture “that we need to resolve” with the EC. “You see, technology, method and justice have to match,” Justice Bagchi said of the work of appellate tribunals in West Bengal.

“But we missed one election, we will miss another,” Mr. Sankaranarayanan said. Justice Bagchi said the court understood the situation. “We will take appropriate action,” he said.

The court said the case would most likely be listed on October 16, 2026 based on priority, but said October 29, 2026 was a more appropriate date.

Published – October 9, 2026 12:31 PM IST