Supreme Court Rejects Plea Against SIR Ahead Of West Bengal Bypolls

The Supreme Court on Monday declined an urgent hearing of the West Bengal SIR matter ahead of the upcoming Rejinagar and Nandigram by-elections. The plea was mentioned before Chief Justice of India Surya Kant's bench for an urgent hearing. However, while turning down the petition, the bench said the matter would be heard on October 5.

The by-elections are scheduled to take place on October 6. Voters in Rejinagar and Nandigram who had applied before the tribunal had been hoping to get some relief from the top court on Monday. Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, however, said, "These are just bye-elections," and added that the Court would hear the matter on October 5.

According to an affidavit filed before the top court on September 16, the Election Commission of India said 6,643 appeals were filed before the tribunal by Nandigram voters, and 89 of them have been restored to the voter list. In the Rejinagar constituency, out of 12,452 appeals submitted, only four have so far been restored to the rolls.

Congress spokesperson Suman Roy Chowdhury said, "It has been proven that the Election Commission's mismanagement is responsible for the issues regarding the deletion of voters in the SIR. Gyanesh Kumar is repeatedly putting so many people in jeopardy solely to aid a specific party-the Bharatiya Janata Party. Legitimate voters across the country have repeatedly been deprived of their rights due to the Election Commission's incompetence. The same is happening in this by-election as well. The Election Commission is responsible for this."

Taking a jibe at this, BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh said, "What more is there for us to say now that the case has been dismissed? We have nothing further to add regarding the dismissed case or the Khariji madrasa."

Objections were raised regarding over 6 million names during the SIR process in West Bengal. Tribunals comprising retired judges were constituted under the Supreme Court's directive to resolve cases filed over factual discrepancies. Many excluded voters submitted applications claiming to be genuine voters. While some applications have been settled, numerous cases remain pending.