SC says 75-year-old lawyer 'prima facie entitled' to be on Bengal voter roll after SIR exclusion

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday orally observed that a 75-year-old lawyer, whose name was excluded from West Bengal's final electoral roll after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), appeared to be entitled to inclusion in the voters' list.

The observation came from a vacation bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice V Mohan while hearing a plea by the Murshidabad-based lawyer, who has been practising for nearly 50 years.

The petitioner informed the bench that although he had filed an appeal before the appellate tribunal against his exclusion, it was yet to be decided. The court declined to examine the merits of the case and left the final decision to the tribunal.


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However, noting delays in the disposal of SIR-related appeals, the bench directed the appellate tribunal to decide the lawyer's plea expeditiously.

"We are of the prima facie view that he is entitled to be included in SIR. But see the mechanism created by us. I got a call from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court that the time to decide appeals should be extended as there are a lot of them pending," CJI Kant orally observed.

In its order, the bench recorded that the petitioner has been practising as a lawyer in Murshidabad since 1977. Taking note that he had already approached the appellate tribunal, it directed the tribunal to decide his appeal within a stipulated timeframe.