No voting for those under lens: SC

‘on Monday said that it cannot permit individuals whose appeals against exclusion from the electoral rolls are still pending to vote in the upcoming West Bengal elections, warning that any such direction would create an anomalous situation and disrupt the integrity of the electoral process.

- Utkarsh Anand

Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi underscored that granting voting rights to those whose eligibility remains under adjudication would lead to untenable consequences.

“Whats the question of allowing them to vote? If we allow this, then let us stop the voting rights of people who are included then,” remarked the bench, rejecting a suggestion by senior counsel Kalyan Bandopadhyay, who appeared for some of the petitioners in the case.

He urged the court to intervene, saying the people of West Bengal were looking up to the top court for relief. Bandopadhyay submitted that an impression had been created that all claims had been adjudicated, whereas in reality “all voters are under adjudication” following the publication of the April 6 electoral roll, underscoring the uncertainty faced by those excluded. “Are there 34 lakh (3.4 million) people not genuine voters? They are genuine voters,” he argued.

But the bench pointed out that as soon as an appeal is decided, registration officers could immediately amend the roils, allowing such people to vote.