New Delhi (Gurpreet Singh): The Supreme Court of India clarified on Friday that the removal of an individual’s name from the electoral roll does not automatically equate to a loss of citizenship. The apex court made the observation while agreeing to examine a petition challenging the exclusion of individuals deleted from the voter list during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal from various state welfare schemes.
A three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and including Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V. Mohana, reiterated that a deletion during an SIR exercise cannot independently strip a person of their citizenship status. Drawing upon a legal precedent established in the Bihar SIR judgment, the Bench pointed out that the ultimate authority to determine citizenship does not reside with the Election Commission (EC). Justice Bagchi noted that the EC remains a constitutional authority with direct control over electoral rolls, meaning it holds the power to exclude names, but such administrative actions do not result in a loss of citizenship status per se under Articles 9, 10, and 11 of the Constitution.
The Bench further emphasised that the EC bears a corresponding duty to refer any case of electoral roll exclusion to the Ministry of Home Affairs for formal adjudication under the Citizenship Act. The Court stated that unless such an official adjudication takes place, an individual’s status as a citizen must legally continue.
The judicial clarification follows submissions made by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing Prasenjit Bose, the chairperson of the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee’s SIR Committee. Sankaranarayanan informed the court that approximately 34 lakh appeals remain pending before 19 appellate tribunals, with only about 38,000 appeals decided so far. Of the settled cases, roughly 70 per cent were allowed, leaving 33.5 lakh appeals unresolved.
The petitioner highlighted that despite the high volume of pending appeals, the West Bengal government has issued notifications actively excluding deleted voters from critical benefits under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and welfare initiatives like the Annapurna Yojana. The advocate further submitted that even basic caste certificates are currently being denied to the affected individuals.
The petition seeks comprehensive, assembly constituency-wise data concerning the West Bengal SIR process, specifically requesting the number of inclusion and deletion forms filed, accepted, and rejected, alongside processing details from the appellate tribunals. The Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission, the West Bengal Government, and the state’s Chief Electoral Officer to formally state their respective positions on the matter, scheduling the next hearing for August 25.
