A Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant clarified that deleting names from electoral rolls does not result in the loss of Indian citizenship.
The apex court issued a notice on a petition filed by West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee leader Prasenjit Bose regarding the denial of welfare benefits.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued that nearly 3.4 million excluded voters in West Bengal are being denied PDS and Annapurna cash transfer benefits.
Electoral Roll Deletion Does Not Strip Citizenship, Rules Supreme Court
"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," CJI Surya Kant said.
Summary
Electoral roll deletion does not strip citizenship, the Supreme Court ruled while issuing a notice on a petition seeking fast resolution for over 3mn West Bengal voters facing welfare cuts.
Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, alongside Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, said a past ruling on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar binds the poll body. Under that decision, the Election Commission of India (ECI) must transfer names of removed voters to the Centre to determine their legal status.
"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," CJI Surya Kant said.
Welfare Benefits Denied
Prasenjit Bose filed the petition while Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued the case for Bose, who represents the West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee. Advocate Neha Rathi assisted Sankaranarayanan.
State benefits were cut after the West Bengal government enacted at least three directives to block Public Distribution System (PDS) and Annapurna cash transfer scheme assistance for individuals deleted from the electoral roll.
This triggered a massive wave of legal challenges as affected residents filed nearly 3.4mn appeals against their removal under the special revision drive.
Removed residents lost state help as they cannot access government assistance while waiting for tribunal decisions, Sankaranarayanan said. "Our worry is that SIR deletion is being used to deny them benefits," Sankaranarayanan said.
Tribunal Backlog Addressed
The top court set up 19 tribunals to handle the disputes, but no official figures show how many cases they have decided.
The petition urges expanding these bodies from 19 to 42 and publishing their standard operating procedure. It also demands swift, scheduled rulings for residents trying to re-enter the rolls after placement on the 'logical discrepancy' suspect list.
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Addressing this concern, the bench stated: "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."
Judges scheduled the hearing for next month as the bench will examine this petition alongside other pending legal challenges against the West Bengal special revision drive.
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