Supreme Court to hear petition challenging West Bengal voter deletions

A petition has been filed in India's Supreme Court challenging the deletions of more than 22 lakh voters from electoral rolls in West Bengal, raising questions about the Election Commission's voter verification process.

The petitioner has questioned the methodology and data compiled by the Election Commission, particularly highlighting discrepancies in the application procedures under Form 6 and Form 7—documents used for voter registration objections and deletions respectively.

The petition comes amid ongoing litigation related to the Special Revision of Rolls (SIR) process in the state, which has faced criticism over the large-scale removal of names from voter lists. Election officials have maintained that the deletions were conducted following standard procedures to remove duplicate, deceased, or ineligible entries from the electoral register.

The Supreme Court's bench will examine whether proper protocols were followed during the voter verification exercise and whether the discrepancies cited by the petitioner warrant a review of the deletion process. The hearing on October 5 is expected to provide clarity on the contentious issue that has drawn attention from various political quarters in West Bengal.