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The Supreme Court on Monday granted relief to more than one crore people in West Bengal whose names were excluded from the draft Special Intensive Review (SIR) electoral rolls, giving them 10 days to submit documents to verify their voter details. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant directed the Election Commission (EC) to publish the names of those excluded under the “logical discrepancy” category and allow them time to present supporting documents. The court said the decision was taken keeping in mind the ground realities, particularly for rural and uneducated voters.

The directive came during the hearing of petitions filed by Trinamool Congress MPs Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien, who alleged large-scale irregularities in the SIR process. The petitioners told the court that notices had been issued to over one crore voters due to discrepancies in their data. According to the EC, discrepancies included unusual age gaps between voters and their parents or grandparents, such as age differences of less than 15 years or more than 50 years. The EC also flagged extreme anomalies, claiming that voter records showed one individual with 234 children and seven individuals with over 100 children.

Court Stresses Voter Access, Fairness

Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, argued that issuance of a notice does not automatically mean deletion from the voter list. He said affected individuals are being given an opportunity to explain the discrepancies by submitting valid documents. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, representing the Trinamool leaders, urged the court to consider the difficulties faced by rural and uneducated voters, who may not be able to travel long distances to submit documents. The bench agreed that adequate access must be ensured.

The court ordered the EC to display the list of excluded voters at panchayat offices, tehsil offices and ward offices. It clarified that voters can submit documents either in person or through authorised representatives, and that facilities for document submission will be available at tehsil offices and panchayat buildings.