The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed a petitioner to move the Calcutta High Court over allegations that individuals left out of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal were also being dropped from the ration list.
The matter was mentioned before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi for urgent listing.
"All those people whose names have been excluded in the SIR are sought to be excluded from the ration list and this has caused a lot of problem.
Lot of beneficiaries are in the danger of being excluded," the lawyer, who mentioned the matter, said.
Justice Nagarathna asked the counsel why the petitioner has not moved the Calcutta High Court.
"The Calcutta High Court is functioning. Go there," the bench said.
The counsel said the SIR exercise was upheld by the top court.
The bench observed that issue related to ration card is a different cause of action.
"Please take it to the high court," the bench said.
On June 4, West Bengal's Food and Supplies Department ordered a state-wide verification exercise to identify and delete ineligible beneficiaries from the Public Distribution System (PDS), linking the process to the outcome of the SIR of electoral rolls.
According to an official order, the exercise would cover ration card holders whose names were deleted or found ineligible during the electoral roll revision process and it was scheduled to be completed by June 15.
The order had said the department decided to undertake "verification and deletion of those PDS beneficiaries who have been found ineligible" following the completion of the SIR and publication of the final electoral rolls by the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal.
Officials had said the categories under scrutiny include persons marked as absentee, shifted, dead or duplicate (ASDD) electors, individuals whose applications were rejected during the SIR process, those deleted after adjudication, and electors identified as ASDD during the distribution of Voter Information Slips ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.
However, the department had clarified that beneficiaries who have filed appeals before the SIR tribunal or have submitted applications under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) would continue to remain active in the ration card database until the disposal of their appeals or applications.
(With inputs from PTI)