In a significant intervention ahead of the West Bengal assembly elections, the Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls due to procedural timelines.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue publishing supplementary voter lists even after the final roll is notified on February 28. The court ruled that voters added through such supplementary lists will be deemed part of the final electoral roll.
The bench said the move was necessary to uphold the “fairness of the process” while maintaining the “purity and sanctity of the electoral roll”. Article 142 empowers the Supreme Court to pass orders necessary to ensure “complete justice” in any matter before it.
The court took note of the scale of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, where nearly 80 lakh cases flagged under categories such as “logical discrepancies” and “unmapped category” are under scrutiny. Over 250 district and additional district judges are currently handling around 50 lakh claims and objections. The bench observed that, even at an average disposal rate of 250 cases per day per officer, the process would take approximately 80 days — far beyond the February 28 deadline.
To expedite the process, the Supreme Court authorised the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to mobilise additional judicial officers. The High Court may also seek assistance from the chief justices of the Jharkhand and Orissa High Courts, including serving and retired judicial officers. The ECI will bear their travel and related expenses.
The court clarified that verification would be limited to documents specified in the ECI’s October 27, 2025 notification, along with documents such as Aadhaar, admit cards, and certificates previously permitted by the apex court. Electoral registration officers were directed to ensure document validity before judicial officers.
Calling the situation “extraordinary”, the bench stressed that the Article 142 direction should not be treated as a precedent. The intervention aims to address what the court earlier described as a “trust deficit” between the Trinamool Congress-led state government and the ECI, while balancing voter inclusivity with electoral integrity.