Plea In Supreme Court Seeks Disclosure Of West Bengal SIR Voter Deletion Data

The petition filed through AoR Neha Rathi seeks directions to the Election Commission and other authorities to disclose constituency-wise data on voter addition and deletion applications, make public the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) governing SIR appeals, and issue simplified guidelines to assist affected voters.

Filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, the plea by the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee's SIR Committee chairperson Prasenjit Bose seeks enforcement of rights guaranteed under Articles 14, 19 and 21. It asks the Court to direct the respondents to disclose constituency-wise numbers of Form 6 and Form 7 applications submitted, admitted and rejected during the claims and objections phase of the SIR exercise. It also seeks publication of the SOP framed on April 7, 2026, by a three-member judicial committee pursuant to earlier Supreme Court directions.

The petitioner has further sought directions for the preparation of a simplified, step-by-step appellate guide in Bangla, Hindi and English to ensure wider public awareness and participation.

Referring to the Supreme Court’s earlier interventions in both the West Bengal and Bihar SIR matters, the petition states that interim directions issued by the Court had produced “certain positive outcomes” and reduced the number of electors who could have otherwise been disenfranchised. It also relies on the Court’s May 27, 2026 judgment in the Bihar SIR case, which noted that “structural correctives” had “ensured the process remained aligned with the requirements of procedural fairness.”

According to the plea, the West Bengal SIR exercise resulted in the exclusion of more than 58 lakh electors during the enumeration phase. It states that during the subsequent claims and objections phase, authorities received 9.64 lakh Form 6 and Form 6A applications and 99,118 Form 7 applications. However, despite the large number of applications, only 1.82 lakh additions were ultimately reflected in the final electoral roll published on February 28, 2026.

The petition contends that the Election Commission has not disclosed constituency-wise figures relating to applications received, accepted or rejected. It further alleges that the Commission has failed to publish data required under Formats 1 to 8 prescribed in Annexure 37 of the ECI Manual on Electoral Rolls, 2024. “The absence of such disclosure raises serious concerns regarding transparency, accountability and public scrutiny of the electoral roll revision process,” the plea states.

The petition also questions the process adopted for adjudicating more than 60 lakh cases flagged for “Logical Discrepancies.” It argues that criteria such as parent-child age gaps, multiple progeny linkages and name mismatches were not contemplated by either the SIR notifications or the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

According to the petitioner, these criteria led to notices being issued to lakhs of voters and eventually resulted in large-scale deletions without adequate transparency regarding the basis of such action or the outcomes of adjudicatory proceedings. The plea further raises concerns regarding the functioning of the 19 Appellate Tribunals established pursuant to Supreme Court orders to hear appeals relating to additions and deletions under the SIR exercise.

While the tribunals were constituted to ensure that more voters could participate in the upcoming West Bengal elections, the petitioner argues that the appellate framework continues to suffer from a “lack of transparency and procedural clarity.” The SOP framed by the three-member judicial committee has not been made public, and there are no publicly available guidelines regarding filing procedures, notices, hearings, timelines or supply of reasoned orders.

The petition states that many excluded voters are “poor, illiterate and uneducated,” making it difficult for them to pursue appeals without legal assistance and clear guidance in local languages.

It also highlights a recent notification issued by the West Bengal government under the Annapurna Yojana scheme, which replaced the Lakshmir Bhandar scheme. According to the petition, persons struck off the electoral rolls under the SIR exercise would lose eligibility for benefits under the scheme, while those who have filed appeals before the SIR Tribunal would continue to receive assistance until their cases are decided. “The consequences of wrongful deletion extend beyond electoral participation and directly affect access to welfare benefits,” the plea states, adding that this makes it even more important to ensure that wrongfully deleted voters are able to effectively pursue appellate remedies.

The petition concludes that judicial intervention is necessary to address “large-scale deletions,” lack of transparency in the revision process, procedural infirmities in the Logical Discrepancy exercise, and deficiencies in the appellate framework, in order to safeguard the constitutional rights of affected citizens and ensure fairness in the electoral revision process.