Bengal SIR: Supreme Court allows excluded voters to vote if appeals filed before this deadline

Bengal SIR: Supreme Court, on Thursday, directed the Election Commission of India to prepare a supplementary revised electoral roll to include voters whose appeals against the deletion of their names are accepted by Appellate Tribunals before specified cutoff dates, thereby allowing them to vote in the upcoming West Bengal Assembly Elections.

The court said that those whose appeals are cleared before April 21 (for the first phase) and April 27 (for the second phase) must be added to the supplementary rolls, so they can cast their votes on April 23 and April 29, respectively, mentioned a report by Live Law.

“We, therefore, invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution of India and direct the ECI that, wherever the Appellate Tribunals are able to decide the appeals by 21.04.2026 or 27.04.2026, as the case may be, such appellate orders shall be given effect to by issuing a supplementary revised electoral roll, and all necessary consequences with respect to the right to vote shall follow,” said a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi, as per Live Law's report.