The Supreme Court today directed the appellate tribunal constituted to hear challenges arising out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal to grant an out-of-turn hearing to a 75-year-old advocate's appeal against deletion of his name from the voter list.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice V. Mohana passed the order after remarking that the petitioner appeared to be a genuine citizen and resident of West Bengal.
Today, Advocate Shakil Sheikh stated that the petitioner's appeal has been pending since March 27, 2026, and had not been taken up for consideration.
Shaikh told the Court that the petitioner has been practising as an advocate in his district court for over 50 years and had been exercising his voting rights for more than five decades. He submitted that the petitioner was a valid voter even before 2002 and no authority had ever questioned his status as a voter at any point.
CJI Kant observed that prima facie, the satisfied about the petitioner's credentials. The Court, however, noted that a mechanism had already been put in place for adjudicating such disputes through appellate tribunals headed by high court former judges.
“Prima facie we are agreeing with you that you appear to be a genuine bona fide citizen of West Bengal. You are a bona fide resident of West Bengal and therefore your name...But you know the mechanism we have created. Former High Court Chief Justice and retired judges are there in the tribunal,” the Chief Justice remarked.
CJI Kant stated that the Court had received a communication from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court indicating that a large number of appeals were pending before the tribunals and additional time was required for their disposal.
In view of the petitioner's grievance, the Court disposed of the matter directing the tribunal to decide his appeal expeditiously.
“Yesterday night only I have received a letter communication from the Chief of the High Court that there are so many appeals and the time is required to be extended. So in your case, we are passing an order directing them to provide you out of turn hearing and decide your matter”, the CJI said.
The petitioner is a septuagenarian advocate from Murshidabad and has been enrolled with the Bar Council of West Bengal in 1977. He has claimed that despite submitting documents during the revision process and filing an appeal under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, his appeal has not been taken up for hearing, rendering the remedy ineffective.
The case is part of extensive litigation arising out of the SIR in West Bengal conducted before the 2026 Assembly elections. The exercise led to the deletion of lakhs of names from the electoral rolls and resulted in extensive litigation before the Supreme Court.
To decide challenges to voter exclusions, the Court constituted Appellate Tribunals comprising former High Court Chief Justices and retired High Court judges. As of April 2026, more than 34 lakh appeals had been filed before the tribunals.
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