Bengal SIR row: SC directs petitioner to move Calcutta HC over ration card deletion plea

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 23) instructed a petitioner to approach the Calcutta High Court after he approached the top court with his plea wherein he claimed that people whose names were removed from the electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal were being deleted from the ration list, stating that a large number of beneficiaries were facing the risk of being excluded.

The petitioner’s lawyer mentioned the matter before a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi for urgent listing.

"All those people whose names have been excluded from the SIR are sought to be excluded from the ration list, and this has caused a lot of problems. Lot of beneficiaries are in danger of being excluded," the lawyer said.

‘It’s a pan-India issue’: Petitioner

According to a report in Live Law, when Justice Nagarathna asked why a writ petition under Article 32 had been filed in the Supreme Court instead of approaching the respective High Court, the counsel argued that it was a pan-India issue, adding that several other states were also doing the same by denying welfare measures to them whose names were deleted from the electoral rolls during the SIR.

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He further stated that since the Supreme Court upheld the legal validity of the SIR process, it was appropriate for the top court to hear the matter. However, the bench was not convinced with the argument.

'Go to Calcutta High Court'

"The Calcutta High Court is functioning. Go there," 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.

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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.

Ration card verification drive

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 agency inputs)