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Kolkata: The Supreme Court has finally given limited but significant relief to voters who were “under adjudication” in the West Bengal SIR by allowing those cleared by the appellate tribunals to cast their vote in the upcoming polls. 

Appeals will need to be cleared by the tribunals in two phases – by April 21 to allow voters to participate in the first phase on April 23, and by April 27 for voting in the second phase on April 29. 

The court has directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to issue supplementary revised electoral rolls wherever tribunals are able to decide appeals within those deadlines. While the order opens a legal window, whether that window can translate into real voting rights for lakhs of people remains the central question.

The problem is one of scale and time. The tribunal process itself began functioning only on April 13, 2026. That leaves just five days before the first cut-off of April 21, and eleven days before the second cut-off of April 27.

This narrow operational window is........

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