The Supreme Court has ordered that people whose inclusion in electoral rolls has been approved by the appellate courts at least two days before polling will have the right to vote in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, significantly relieving the previous freeze on voter rolls and providing relief to thousands caught in the ongoing review exercise.
Exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to give effect to the appeal orders by issuing supplementary revised electoral rolls before the polling dates.
She noted that the state will go to the polls in two phases – on April 23 and 29, and therefore, it is imperative that those declared eligible to vote by the Courts of Appeal exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections.
“We, therefore, invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and direct the IEC that wherever the appellate courts are capable of deciding the appeals by 21.04.2026 or 27.04.2026, as the case may be, such appellate orders shall be given effect by issuing a supplementary revised electoral roll and all necessary consequences in respect of the right to vote will follow,” it said.
The order, issued on Thursday after the last hearing on April 13, represents a measured shift from the court’s previous position of not allowing those whose appeals remained pending to vote, because that would hamper the integrity of the electoral process.
Under the guidelines, appeals courts must decide by April 21 for the first phase of balloting scheduled for April 23, and by April 27 for the second phase scheduled for April 29. If an appeal is allowed during this window, the voter’s name must be restored through a supplementary list, to enable them to cast their vote.
This development is important because the electoral lists for the first and second phases had already been frozen on April 6 and April 9, respectively, effectively excluding those whose claims were not adjudicated in time. The court’s intervention now creates a narrow but crucial window for their inclusion even after the official freeze.
At the same time, the court made it clear that merely continuing the appeal would not give the person the right to vote. “Merely pending appeals…does not give them the right to exercise their right to vote,” the court said, stressing its concern that allowing such claims would create an “anomalous situation” and reopen the entire exercise.
The order came as part of a batch of petitions challenging the Special Intensive Review (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, an unprecedented process that has seen judicial officials dispose of more than 6 million claims and objections in a compressed timetable. The court noted that the verification process, conducted by a “neutral body” of judicial officials, replaced the previous presumption of the validity of voter entries.
To address concerns about wrongful exclusion, the court had earlier established a two-tier appeal mechanism. Persons excluded from the lists can approach first the judicial officers and then the Courts of Appeal, which include former chief justices and senior judges of the Supreme Court.
The court recorded that more than 3.4 million appeals have already been filed before these courts, not only by excluded voters but also by objectors challenging the inclusion of others.
It also took note of the detailed institutional framework that had been put in place for the appeals process, including standard operating procedures drafted by a committee of former judges and the establishment of a dedicated portal for filing and adjudicating appeals.
It is worth noting that the court stressed that the appellate courts will review the entire record, including the reasons recorded by judicial officials, and provide a fair hearing before reaching a final decision.
By balancing competing concerns about electoral integrity and individual privilege, the Court emphasized that its guidance was intended to ensure that “crucial” determinations of voter eligibility were not rendered meaningless simply by the existence of procedural timelines.
At the same time, it argued that allowing unresolved claims to be translated into voting rights would effectively undo the entire verification process and lead to chaos, as even objectors seek to exclude those already on the lists.
The court also recorded its appreciation for the “herculean task” undertaken by judicial officials from West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha in completing the massive verification exercise within a short period.
The matter will now be taken up again on April 24, even as the electoral process continues under the amended framework set by the Supreme Court.
