The Supreme Court on Friday made it clear that removing a person's name from the electoral roll does not automatically take away Indian citizenship.
The court said its recent judgment on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar clearly places a responsibility on the Election Commission of India (ECI). If the ECI removes a person's name from the voter list, it must refer the case to the Central government for a decision on citizenship.
Supreme Court Clarifies ECI's Role
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the ECI has complete authority over electoral rolls. However, deleting a person's name from the voter list does not mean the person has lost citizenship. The court said only the Central government can decide questions related to citizenship.
“Our judgment (on Bihar SIR) is clear. The Election Commission of India has full control over the electoral roll. However, that does not result in loss of citizenship per se. They have a corresponding duty to refer it to the ministry of the Central government department for adjudication of the citizenship status.”
Court Hears Plea on West Bengal Voters
The bench made the observation while hearing a petition related to West Bengal. The petition seeks a faster process for deciding more than three million appeals filed by voters whose names were removed from the electoral roll.
It also says many of these people have lost access to subsidised ration, cash assistance and other welfare schemes before their appeals are decided.
Prasenjit Bose of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee filed the petition. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, assisted by advocate Neha Rathi, argued the case.
Petitioner Raises Welfare Concerns
Sankaranarayanan told the court that the West Bengal government has continued to stop benefits despite the Supreme Court's clarification. He said the government issued at least three orders removing affected people from the Public Distribution System (PDS) and the Annapurna cash transfer scheme.
He argued that deleting a person's name from the voter list should not automatically stop welfare benefits.
Over 3.4 Million Appeals Await Decision
The petitioner said nearly 3.4 million appeals remain pending after the SIR exercise. He told the court that it had earlier directed the creation of 19 appellate tribunals to hear these cases.
However, no official data shows how many appeals the tribunals have decided. He also requested the court to make the tribunals' standard operating procedure (SOP) public.
Court Says Focus Should Be on Faster Disposal
The bench, which also included Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, said the SOP is meant only for internal use. “The SOP was meant for internal functioning and is effectively being addressed by the Chief Justice of the Calcutta high court. Your concern is on the reasonable rate of disposal of appeals.”
The judges said the key issue is ensuring that appeals are decided within a reasonable time.
Petition Seeks More Tribunals
The petition noted that West Bengal is expected to hold local body elections by December. It asked the court to ensure that appeals are decided before the elections.
It also requested an increase in the number of appellate tribunals from 19 to at least 42 to speed up the process. The plea covers voters whose names were placed on a "logical discrepancy" suspect list during the revision exercise.
Supreme Court to Hear Matter Next Month
The Supreme Court agreed to hear the petition along with other pending cases challenging the SIR process in West Bengal next month. Sankaranarayanan urged the court to hear the matter early. He said many people continue to lose welfare benefits while waiting for their appeals to be decided.
“Our worry is that SIR deletion is being used to deny them benefits,” he said. The case will now focus on both the speed of the appeals process and the impact of voter list deletions on access to government welfare schemes.