The Supreme Court on Friday directed 65 election officials to approach the appellate tribunal for relief, clarifying that they will be unable to cast their votes in the current Bengal election cycle, according to an NDTV report.
The petition highlights growing concerns over the Election Commission's large-scale voter roll revision, an exercise that has led to the removal of an estimated 90.8 lakh individuals from the database.
The issue also reflects the court's position on the 27.1 lakh individuals who currently remain in electoral limbo, with their status yet to be conclusively determined.
The ruling prompted an anguished appeal from Senior Advocate M R Shamshad, who argued that the petitioners are actively on election duty with orders that specifically cite their now-deleted EPIC numbers. "Now the persons conducting this election cannot vote! This is arbitrary," Shamshad contended, echoing widespread complaints from many of the millions of displaced voters who allege their names were dropped without explanation or notice, reported NDTV.
The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, directed the petitioners to present their grievances before the appropriate legal forum, stating, "Make these arguments before the appellate tribunal... Appropriate orders will be passed by the tribunal."
Addressing the immediate impact on the officials' ability to participate in the upcoming polls, Justice Joymalya Bagchi noted that while the timeline may be restrictive, the long-term status of the voters remained the priority, signaling that the judicial focus remains on the permanent restoration of electoral rights rather than immediate intervention in the current polling phase, as per NDTV.
Following the first phase of polling in West Bengal on Thursday, official figures reported a record 92.8% voter turnout. However, experts have raised concerns that this figure is mathematically inflated due to the prior scrubbing of 90.8 lakh voters from the state rolls, which significantly lowered the baseline for calculation.
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