Desk Correspondent , New Delhi – On Wednesday the Supreme Court of India finally came to a verdict about the Tribunals. In their words “valuable” right vote cannot be “washed out” in the manner that creates an “oppressive” situation of citizens. The tribunal is to be set up in West Bengal to hear appeals of voters in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise to even examine fresh documents after verification.

On April 1, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant permitted 19 special appellate tribunals in West Bengal. Over 6.3 million names were initially excised from the rolls published on February 28, prompting nearly six million objections, of which 4.7 million have been undecided by judicial officials. The tribunals will be led by former Judge of High Court in Kolkata. The functioning of tribunals will begin on Thursday and frame their own procedures. The Election Commission of India (ECI) must provide all records and reasons for every inclusion or exclusion.

The court clarified that names approved by tribunals before the nomination deadline will remain eligible for voting. “We are looking at two independent aspects - the list on which elections are to be conducted, and another is the right to vote. If the appellate tribunal decides by the last date, those names may be included in the roll. But those beyond the last date, their valuable right to vote cannot be washed out. This cannot lead to an oppressive situation,” said the SC. The ruling follows an initial adjudication round and aims to ensure fair cleansing of electoral rolls without violating the right to vote.