The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an urgent hearing requested by West Bengal voters in the SIR (Special Identification Report) case, setting a hearing for Oct. 5 – just one day before the Rejinagar and Nandigram by‑elections scheduled for Oct. 6.
The SIR process, launched after the 2020 delimitation, has seen over 6 million names flagged for deletion; in West Bengal, 6,643 appeals were filed by Nandigram voters, 89 restored, and 12,452 appeals in Rejinagar with only four restored. The Election Commission’s affidavit on Sept. 16 highlighted the backlog.
Congress spokesperson Suman Roy Chowdhury blasted the Election Commission’s handling, accusing it of “mismanagement” that jeopardised voters for the BJP. BJP MLA Sajal Ghosh, on the other hand, dismissed the case as “irrelevant” after its dismissal.
The one‑day delay means voters who applied before the tribunal may still face registration issues on election day. One affected voter, 45‑year‑old farmer Manish Kumar from Rejinagar, said he had to travel to the polling centre multiple times to verify his name, hoping the Supreme Court would rectify the mistake.
The Supreme Court’s bench will convene on Oct. 5 to hear the petitions; the outcome will determine whether the 1,000 voters who remain unregistered can cast ballots on Oct. 6. Election authorities have urged parties to expedite the process, while opposition groups demand a review of the SIR methodology.
The decision comes amid criticism that the SIR process may disenfranchise voters in politically sensitive constituencies. The next step will be the hearing on Oct. 5, after which the court will issue a ruling that could alter the voter rolls before the by‑elections.