Appellate tribunals to decide on pleas against exclusion or inclusion in Bengal SIR: SC

Nineteen appellate tribunals headed by former chief justices and high court judges will decide on the pleas of those excluded from the voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday. The court said the tribunals will also adjudicate upon the pleas of Election Commission (EC) officials, who may be aggrieved by the inclusion of persons in the voter list by adjudicating authorities, including 700 judicial officers from West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took note of two communications received from the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, updating the progress of the exercise. Highlighting the “extraordinary exercise” of adjudicating the objections in the ongoing SIR process, the CJI said approximately 47.4 lakh objections out of a total of 60 lakh were disposed of as on March 31.

The bench said, according to the communications received from the chief justice, “as on March 31, 2026, till 4:04 pm, 46,60,135 objections have been decided in the entire State, against the total number of 60,06,675 objections filed. We are informed that as of today, the disposal has crossed 47,30,000”.

It noted that on March 20, the poll panel notified the constitution of 19 appellate tribunals that will be working from the Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation, Diamond Harbour Road in Kolkata, an institute run by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, for the next eight weeks.

“It goes without saying that, as and when required, the Election Commission of India will either seek further extension from the Ministry of Jal Shakti and/or identify alternative premises in consultation with the parties,” the bench said.

“We, however, clarify that, in any case, the appellate tribunals shall function at Kolkata,” it said.

The bench said the chief justice of the high court has also highlighted the issue of alleged non-availability of “reasons” for the rejection of the objections by the adjudicating authority.

The poll panel assured the court that the tribunals will have access to the records of the parties before the judicial officers while deciding on the appeals against exclusion or inclusion from the voter list.

“To eliminate any doubt, we request the appellate tribunals to revisit the full records, including the reasons assigned by the judicial officers while adjudicating the objections, before making a decision on the appeals filed before them, and also to inform the parties of these reasons,” the bench said.

It said the tribunals would be free to evolve their own procedures in accordance with the principles of natural justice and adjudicate the appeals after providing a fair opportunity to the parties.

“It may also be brought on record that the chief justice has informed us that the pending objections are likely to be adjudicated by April 7, 2026,” the bench said.

It posted the pleas, including that of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, for a hearing on April 6.

“We are quite happy and very optimistic about the facts and figures,” the CJI said.

The court further directed the EC and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal to ensure the timely payment of honorarium and other expenses to the judicial officers, tribunal members and staff.

Senior advocates appearing for the petitioners, including those representing the chief minister, flagged concerns over a high exclusion rate, claiming it to be around 45 per cent, and raised issues regarding the filing of fresh applications and alleged procedural irregularities.

The CJI said rival parties will claim that there should be 100-per cent inclusion or exclusion.

“Let us allow tribunals to function and deal with exclusions or inclusion in the voters’ list,” he added.

The bench, however, termed some of the apprehensions “hyper-technical” and advised the parties to raise specific grievances before the appellate tribunals.

“Ultimately, you are not remediless,” the CJI remarked.

The top court is hearing a batch of pleas challenging the SIR process in West Bengal.

On March 10, it had laid down a framework for adjudication of claims and objections and directed the setting up of independent appellate tribunals.

On March 24, the bench asked the litigants to approach the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court for administrative issues, noting that the SIR exercise had proceeded smoothly in most states except West Bengal.

The court had also directed the appointment of judicial officers to handle claims and objections, and sought a report from the state police chief on complaints of threats to officials involved in the process.