The Supreme Court on Tuesday said that judges from Odisha and Jharkhand can also be deployed to decide on the claims and objections raised during the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, reported Live Law.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also allowed the Calcutta High Court to deploy civil judges in West Bengal with at least three years of experience to expedite the voter roll revision process, according to Bar and Bench.
The bench was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the conduct of the exercise in the state. West Bengal is among the 12 states and Union Territories where the special intensive revision of electoral rolls is underway.
The state’s draft electoral rolls were published on December 16. They showed that more than 58 lakh voters were removed after being marked dead, shifted or absent.
The deletion from the draft roll is provisional and citizens can file claims and objections against the removal of their names.
On Friday, the Supreme Court allowed the appointment of judicial officers to help complete the exercise amid a tussle between the Trinamool Congress government in the state and the Election Commission.
It had directed that Calcutta High Court’s serving and retired judicial officers of the rank of district judge or additional district judge will “revisit/dispose of claims/objections under logical discrepancy”.
“Logical discrepancies” flagged by the Election Commission during the voter list revision include mismatches in parents’ names, low age gap with parents and the number of children of the parents being above six.
The poll panel had earlier said that it had raised logical discrepancy objections against 1.2 crore persons.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court referred to a letter received on Sunday from the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court.
The letter had said that there were 50 lakh cases of logical discrepancies or unmapped categories to be decided and 250 judicial officers were available for the duty, reported Live Law. Even if one officer decides 250 matters a day, it will take at least 80 days to complete the process, it had added.
Taking note of this, the Supreme Court held that the Calcutta High Court chief justice “is at liberty to approach” his counterparts in the High Courts of Jharkhand and Orissa “to provide serving or retired judicial officers”.
“Their travel, honorarium and other expenses shall be borne by the Election Commission,” the court added.
It also said that Aadhaar cards, admit cards from Class 10 and passing certificates would be considered as eligibility proof during the voter roll revision, reported Bar and Bench.
“We state that all such documents, whether electronically updated or physically handed over before February 14, 2026, shall be considered,” said the bench.
It also reiterated that the poll panel can publish the final voter list on February 28. Thereafter, supplementary lists can be published on a continuous basis, said the bench.
On February 10, the Election Commission extended the deadline for hearing responses to the notices to February 14. The date for publishing the final voter list had also been moved to February 28.
In her petition against the exercise, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has raised concerns that voter roll revision poses an immediate and irreversible risk of mass disenfranchisement of eligible electors in the Assembly elections.
She has sought the court’s direction that the elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared last year.
The Assembly elections in the state are expected to be held in April or May.
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