NEW DELHI: In a big relief to legitimate voters whose names were struck off electoral rolls, the Supreme Court has directed the Election Commission of India to allow them to vote if their appeals are accepted by the appellate tribunals at least two days before the elections.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi directed the Election Commission to issue a supplementary electoral roll to include the names of those whose appeals against deletion are allowed by appellate tribunals before April 21 (1st phase) and April 27 (2nd phase).
In the order dated April 13 and uploaded on the Supreme Court website on Thursday, the CJI-led bench invoked Article 142 of the Constitution, which empowers the top court to pass any order necessary to ensure “complete justice” in any matter pending before it.
The bench, however, sought to clarify that mere pendency of appeals by excluded persons before the appellate tribunals would not entitle them to vote. Only those whose appeals are accepted by the tribunals before the cut-off dates are eligible to vote.
The bench passed the directions after hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal, where the names of several eligible voters were deleted forcing them to move court seeking restoration of their names and interim relief. The court fixed April 24 as the next date for hearing the matter.