SC seeks data on Bengal electoral roll appeals as municipal polls loom
New Delhi, August 25, 2026: Five months after constituting 19 appellate tribunals to hear appeals arising from the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday found that public information on these proceedings remains sparse. With municipal elections expected in the state, the court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to provide precise data on the appeals filed and decided.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant asked the ECI to file an affidavit segregating the exact number of appeals seeking inclusion in the West Bengal electoral rolls from those seeking exclusion of voters. The court also sought the number of appeals pending before the tribunals and the number already decided. It said it would consider the need for additional tribunals only after obtaining accurate statistics.
The Bench further requested the ECI to explore a mechanism for regularly updating and streamlining the progress of pending appeals before the tribunals.
“Give us the data. Give us the breakup of the nature of appeals filed, whether inclusion or exclusion. Then, we will make a call as to whether appeals by disenfranchised voters seeking reinclusion should be prioritised... Their exclusion from the electoral rolls denudes them of their voting rights,” observed Justice Joymalya Bagchi, who was part of the Bench.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan and advocate Neha Rathi, appearing for Prasenjit Bose, chairperson of the SIR Committee, West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee, submitted that approximately 38 lakh appeals had been filed across the 19 tribunals. Of these, only seven lakh were from voters seeking to be included in the rolls, they said.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan alleged that the remaining 31 lakh appeals were “shockingly” filed either by the Election Commission or other objectors with the aim of excluding more people from the West Bengal electoral rolls. He cited a Right to Information (RTI) response obtained by Lok Sabha MP Isha Khan Choudhury from the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer's office. The seven-lakh figure, he said, was based on a media report quoted in Mr. Bose's application.
The counsel argued that appeals from disenfranchised voters should be given priority over the “lion's share” of appeals filed by the EC and other objectors. He noted that municipal polls in Kolkata and Howrah were expected to be held as early as December 2026.
Justice Bagchi remarked that if the reported statistics were accurate, 31 lakh appeals aimed at removing more people from the rolls represented a “very large chunk”.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan reminded the court that it had earlier assured excluded voters in West Bengal that their appeals would be heard within a reasonable time. The RTI reply, he said, showed that out of 38 lakh appeals, only about 82,000 had been decided so far, with over 75,000 decided in favour of voters seeking inclusion.
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, also appearing for the petitioners, pointed to several upcoming elections in the state, including the Lok Sabha elections in 2029. “People should be able to exercise their right to vote,” he submitted.
Chief Justice Kant responded, “We are with you on this point. Before the elections... at least, at least before the Parliament elections come, and much before that, everything should be decided.”
The court's intervention comes amid concerns that the SIR process, designed to correct electoral rolls, may inadvertently disenfranchise eligible voters. The Bench has scheduled further hearing after receiving the ECI's affidavit.
