The Supreme Court has refused to give any interim relief to voters in West Bengal whose names were deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that a large number of voters had filed appeals and should be permitted to vote until their cases are decided. However, the Court did not agree.

The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant clearly stated that allowing such voters to cast their vote is “entirely out of the question.” He explained that doing so could disrupt the fairness of the electoral process and affect the voting rights of others.

The Court was informed that lakhs of appeals have been filed by people whose names were removed from the voter list. In fact, over 34 lakh cases are currently pending before appellate tribunals.

The Election Commission has already finalised and frozen the voter list ahead of the elections. As a result, no new names can be added unless the Supreme Court specifically orders it—which it declined to do in this case.

The Court also pointed out that proper mechanisms are already in place, with multiple tribunals set up to decide these disputes. People whose names have been deleted can approach these forums for relief.

For now, the Supreme Court has made it clear: only those whose names are on the final voter list will be allowed to vote in the elections.