25/08/2026
The Supreme Court bench comprising Hon'ble Chief Justice, Hon’ble Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Hon'ble Justice V. Mohana today directed the Election Commission of India to submit details regarding the pending appeals before the SIR Appellate Tribunals in West Bengal and nature of relief sought in these appeals.
Appearing for the petitioners, Mr. Gopal Sankaranarayanan, Sr Advocate and Ms. Neha Rathi, AOR, submitted to the Bench a Reply furnished by the Office of CEO West Bengal to an RTI Application filed by Isha Khan Chowdhury, MP which inter alia disclosed the following:
Total number of Appeals submitted before the SIR Appellate Tribunals in West Bengal as on 07.08.2026: 38,10,620
Total Disposal of Cases by SIR Appellate Tribunals: 82,782
Included in Electoral Roll: 75443 (91%)
Included in Electoral Roll: 7339 (9%)
It was pointed out that these people have already lost their right to vote in the legislative assembly elections and lakhs of such electors stand to lose out in the upcoming Municipal Elections as well, unless remedial measures are directed by the Supreme Court.
The counsels for the petitioners informed the court that the State Government officials are claiming that only 7 lakh out of total 27 lakh deleted electors (after adjudication) have filed appeals so far. The rest of the appeals have been filed by ECI or individual objectors.
It was further argued that the intention behind order dated 10th March 2026 constituting the Appellate Tribunals was to create a mechanism by which those persons whose claim for inclusion was rejected by the judicial officers could be included in the electoral rolls and not to create a means for ECI and other objectors to file bulk application for deletion. In light of the same a prayer was made to pass an order prioritising hearing of appeals filed by voters seeking inclusion of their names in the electoral rolls.
The counsels for the petitioner further apprised the court that elections to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and Howrah Municipal Corporation are coming up in December 2026, thereby seeking a prayer that for appeals arising out of these two jurisdictions, Supreme Court must set-up a time bound schedule for adjudication.
The Following PILs have been filed from the Congress at the Supreme Court in West Bengal SIR & Appellate Tribunal related matters:
WP(C) 1088/2025 - Subhankar Sarkar Vs. ECI & Anr.
WP(C) 819/2026 - Prasenjit Bose Vs ECI & Ors.
Diary Nos. 38345-2026 - Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Vs ECI & Ors.
Sd/-
Prasenjit Bose
Chairperson, SIR Committee
West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee
25.08.2026
