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Just before the West Bengal Assembly elections 2026, the Supreme Court has given its verdict on the dispute of deletion of names from the voter list. The Chief Justice bench, using its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, has directed that the citizens whose names were removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) should be given an opportunity to cast their vote on the basis of the decision of the Appellate Tribunal.

The Court has given a clear order to the Election Commission (ECI) to immediately give effect to the appeals allowed by the Tribunal. This decision has given a ray of hope to millions of people whose voting rights were in doubt. The court made it clear that ensuring participation of every eligible citizen in the democratic process is the top priority and no technical delay should come in the way.

Who will get a chance to vote?

The Supreme Court has set a time limit for voting. According to the order, persons whose appeal has been accepted by the Appellate Tribunal will be able to vote in the phase to be held on April 23. Additionally, those appeals whose appeals are disposed of by April 21 or April 27 will also be allowed to cast their votes at their respective polling stations. The court has rejected the demand for voting only on the grounds that the appeal is ‘pending’.

Election Commission will release supplementary voter list

The court has directed the Election Commission to publish a supplementary revised voter list for all those voters whose appeals have been approved. Its objective is to ensure that on the day of polling, no eligible voter is turned away from the center due to his name not being in the list. Let us tell you that apart from Bengal, about 700 judicial officers from Odisha and Jharkhand have also been deployed for this process. Who are settling more than 60 lakh objections.

The court has also taken a tough stance regarding the security of officials engaged in the election process. The court ordered that the security cover given to judicial officers will continue till the completion of the elections. Expressing concern over the incident of gherao of officials in Malda district, the Chief Justice said that the matter will be taken to its ‘logical end’. The court has also sought information about the political background of the people arrested by the NIA, so that the morale of the officers doing election duty remains intact.