Supreme Court Sets October 5 Hearing on West Bengal SIR Plea Ahead of Bypolls

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up the West Bengal electoral roll revision matter on an urgent basis, agreeing instead to hear it on October 5 — a day before by-elections are held in the Rejinagar and Nandigram assembly constituencies on October 6.

The request for an early hearing was made before a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. Turning it down, the bench observed that the matter concerned only by-elections and posted it for October 5. Voters in the two constituencies who had approached the tribunal had been hoping for relief from the top court on Monday.

According to an affidavit the Election Commission of India filed before the Supreme Court on September 16, 6,643 appeals were lodged by voters in Nandigram, of which 89 have been restored to the electoral rolls. In Rejinagar, 12,452 appeals were submitted and only four names have so far been restored.

The Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal drew objections against more than six million names. Tribunals staffed by retired judges were set up on the Supreme Court's direction to settle cases involving factual discrepancies. While a number of applications from excluded voters claiming to be genuine electors have been resolved, many remain pending.

Congress spokesperson Suman Roy Chowdhury blamed the poll body for the deletions, alleging mismanagement and incompetence and claiming that legitimate voters were being deprived of their rights. BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh, asked about the developments, said there was nothing further to add now that the case had been dismissed.