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Bengal SIR: SC allows excluded persons to vote if appeals accepted by tribunal by cut-off date

Scroll | April 16, 2026 11:40 PM CST

The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission to publish a supplementary electoral roll in West Bengal to include voters whose appeals against deletions have been accepted by the appellate tribunals, Live Law reported on Thursday.

Persons whose appeals have been cleared by the tribunals before April 21 should be included for voting in the first phase of Assembly elections, said a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi. Those who are cleared by April 27 should be included in the final electoral rolls for the second phase of the polls.

All decisions made by the tribunals on the addition and deletion of voters by those dates must be reflected in the final voter lists.

The first phase of polling will be held on April 23 and the second on April 29. The votes will be counted on May 4.

The order was passed on Monday but was made public on Thursday.

The court said that filing an appeal against exclusion from the voter list in itself would not entitle a person to vote, Live Law reported.

The bench was hearing a plea urging it to ensure that the persons whose appeals were pending before the tribunals are allowed to vote.

The Election Commission had frozen the electoral rolls for the first phase of polling...