SC to examine whether persons deleted from voter list in SIR can be denied welfare schemes
New Delhi, July 17
The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Election Commission of India and the West Bengal government on a plea seeking directions that persons whose names are deleted from the electoral rolls after rejection of their appeals by Special Tribunals under the Special Intensive Revision exercise in West Bengal should not be deprived of welfare benefits under government schemes.
The petition, filed by Prasenjit Bose, contends that deletion from the electoral roll should not automatically result in exclusion from schemes such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Annapurna scheme and other welfare programmes providing monetary and social benefits.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana, issued notice on the plea and indicated that it may list the matter before July 25.
During the hearing, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that around 34 lakh appeals are still pending before the Special Tribunals, while media reports indicate that only about 38,000 appeals have been decided so far. He also pointed out that there are only 19 tribunals dealing with the appeals and that two judges have already resigned.
Referring to the consequences of deletion from the electoral rolls, Sankaranarayanan argued that those affected are being excluded from public welfare schemes and entitlements.
"The consequences of a deletion now... PDS, Annapurna, caste certificates, verification," he submitted, adding that people could be deprived of benefits even before issues relating to their status are finally resolved.
Justice Bagchi responded that the issue had already been addressed by the Supreme Court in its judgment concerning the Bihar SIR exercise.
"We are conscious of this. In our Bihar SIR judgment, we have clarified that the ECI, as soon as it takes a decision over voting rights, cannot decide citizenship. The ECI has a corresponding duty to refer the matter to the Ministry for adjudication under the Citizenship Act," Justice Bagchi observed.
Sankaranarayanan, however, argued that despite the legal position, affected persons continued to face immediate hardship.
"Neither you (Court) nor us apprehended that all these welfare schemes would be taken away from them," he submitted.
The Court replied that the legal position governing the ECI's role was already settled.
"Law is clear. ECI has control and superintendence over the electoral roll," the Court observed.
The petitioner also sought greater transparency in the functioning of the Special Tribunals.
Sankaranarayanan urged the Court to direct that the tribunals maintain websites and upload their standard operating procedures as well as their adjudication orders.
"There should be a mechanism to ensure transparency. Tribunals should have websites, put out their SOPs and put up their orders," he submitted.
Questioning the insistence on multiple documents for proving citizenship, the senior counsel further argued.
"If you have a passport, then it should be accepted. Why need other documents?", the senior lawyer said.
The petitioner also requested the Court to exercise its jurisdiction under Article 142 (courts' power to do "complete justice") by protecting affected persons from being denied welfare benefits while their citizenship-related issues remain unresolved.
— ANI
Reader Comments
The Election Commission needs to be careful. Deleting names from electoral rolls should not become a way to strip people of basic entitlements. If someone's citizenship is under question, that's a separate process under the Citizenship Act. Why should they lose access to PDS or Annapurna in the meantime? Common sense.
I understand the concern, but we must also ensure the system is not misused. There have been cases of fake voters being added. The SIR is meant to clean the rolls. However, the implementation has been messy—only 19 tribunals for lakhs of appeals is ridiculous. More tribunals and transparency are needed.
The Supreme Court already clarified in the Bihar SIR judgment that ECI cannot decide citizenship. So why are people still being denied welfare benefits? That's plain injustice. The government should immediately issue orders to link welfare schemes only to Aadhaar or other valid documents, not just voter IDs.
The senior advocate made a very good point: if someone has a passport, why ask for more documents? That should be enough proof. Also, the tribunals should definitely have websites and upload orders. Transparency is key. Otherwise, it looks like a deliberate attempt to exclude people from welfare schemes.
I feel for the affected families. Losing your voter ID is stressful enough, but then being denied rations and caste certificates? That's a nightmare. The court should use Article 142 to protect these people until their appeals are decided. This is about basic human dignity.
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.