By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Election Commission of India (ECI) has caused miscarriage of democracy in West Bengal, which is rejoiced by the Union Government of India led by PM Narendra Modi and RSS-BJP clan, lamented by millions of voters whose names were deleted from the electoral roll under Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and strongly resisted by West Bengal Government. It is very unfortunate that the miscarriage was caused under the nose of the Supreme Court of India.
The Electoral Rolls have been frozen on April 6 and April 9, on the last date of nominations for the two-phase election in West Bengal, with names of over 9 million voters deleted. Supreme Court has allowed it to happen, by accepting it as final electoral roll, though its preparation is still questionable, which is not even free and fair, which the Supreme Court has itself accepted. Supreme Court failed to provide even enough time before election to deleted voters to appeal in the Tribunals against the adjudication orders by former judges, though it expressed concerns about ongoing SIR process, and emphasized on need to have a “robust appellate mechanism” to deliver justice to the deleted voters.
The good words of the Supreme Courts are welcome, but it applies for the future. What is happening now is of serious concern, since deleted voters are unheard in the appellate tribunals, and their constitutional right to vote has already been violated, which is nothing but miscarriage of democracy.
Supreme Court might have been aware how BJP’s real politics moved faster than their decisions, and how BJP politicians got the things done whatever they wanted in respect to electoral roll manipulations, as alleged by the opposition, by addition of names of persons from outside states and by deletion of voters who they supposed were anti-BJP. This is what precisely happened, fist in Bihar, and now is happening in West Bengal.
Appellate Tribunals have started hearing the appeals on April 13, 2026, and it is obvious that the persons whose names are deleted, several days after the voter list have been frozen, cannot vote in this election. The West Bengal government led by TMC leader CM Mamata Banerjee has raised serious concern about the deleted voters, and prayed that if the process of SIR can’t be completed before election, electors should be allowed to vote on the basis of the pre-SIR electoral roll. However, the Supreme Court refused the request, accepted the incomplete electoral roll published by ECI on February 28, as Final Electoral Roll, directing ECI to publish supplementary electoral rolls, after adjudication by the judicial officers it had ordered to deploy.
The adjudication process for SIR in West Bengal was “largely completed” by April 9, on the last date of nomination for the second phase of election. Supreme Court had refused to delay the freezing of electoral rolls on April 6, the last date of nomination for the first phase of election. An April 13, the Supreme Court has ruled that individuals whose appeals are pending or not resolved by the deadline cannot vote in 2026 Assembly election. There are over 34 lakh pending voter exclusion appeals before the 19 newly created tribunals.
Supreme Court Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, which also included Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi, have been hearing a bunch of petitions against SIR. The Bench has been raising serious concerns about the process, and have been giving directions to the ECI to conduct SIR in justifiable manner. It had also flagged the ECI software that have created discrepancies. The Bench had noted that there was no trust between the ECI and the West Bengal government, and ordered adjudication by formers judges, and then establishment of tribunals.
Supreme Court knew that the West Bengal was targeted unfairly, but it is most unfortunate thing that the Bench did not act properly. On April 13, the Bench itself said that the ECI departed from promise to leave voters in 2002 electoral roll untouched. Not only that the Bench noted that the “logical discrepancy” category was unique to West Bengal, and was not applied to SIR process in any other state.
On April 13, the Apex Court told the ECI that right to be on electoral roll and to vote in one’s own country is not only constitutional right but also sentimental, while referring to lakhs of voters excluded for “logical discrepancies” and lining up for appeal hearing in the state hardly 10 days ahead of Assembly elections, following an “inquisitorial” SIR. It said that voting is the biggest expression of nationality and patriotism that you are in participatory process to elect a democratic government, justice Joymalya Bagchi said.
“No other state has a category called “logical discrepancy”. We have examined Bihar, we did not find a single person flagged for logical discrepancy,” said justice Bagchi, adding, “This is not a question of inflating or shrinking, but of Fairness.”
Justice Bagchi said, “The original SIR notification said voters in the 2002 electoral roll would not be touched. The 2002 roll would be the benchmark. But when you introduced ‘logical discrepancy’, you infracted that rule.”
Representing ECI Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, said “statistics” proved West Bengal did not “stand out” and was “on par” with other states in the number of exclusions. He also said that voters who could prove their credentials were retained, and those with disparity in their names or other background detains were asked to provide detains, which were verified.
Ironically, the Bench was hearing a petition of Quraisha Yeasmin, who was a mapped voter, and had an Indian passport and an Aadhaar. Yet she said, she was excluded from the electoral roll. On submission by Naidu, Justice Bagchi said, “A voter in the 2002 roll was not required to give anything… When the Bihar SIR was argued, and the Bihar SIR was a facsimile of the SIR we are dealing with today, the EC was unequivocal when it submitted that a person in the 2002 voter list does not have to prove anything. No uploading of documents was required… And then you deviated from your original arguments.”
“The appellate process must be robust… somewhere we are getting blinded by the dust and fury of an impending election… We need to protect the due process rights of the voters,” Justice Bagchi said. “This is not a fight between the EC and the West Bengal government. This is not a blame-game. It is a question of voters being sandwiched between two constitutional authorities. Our adjudicatory process and interventions were meant to ensure fair elections. The appeal hearings cannot be hurried. We are not on ‘ends justifying means’. We are on ‘means subjecting themselves to reasonableness and fairness’.”
Despite all these, the current position is that elections are being held on faulty, and unfair voter list, and by the time justice will be delivered, election will be over. BJP will get benefit of this voter list manipulation, and TMC will suffer. Supreme Court is trying to show it is doing its best, and we see where things stand, not only on SIR, but also how Central Investigating Agencies are active, and how ECI has virtually taken the state administration, that are advantage BJP Government led by PM Narendra Modi. (IPA Service)
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