'Class 10 admit cards accompanied by pass certificates can be used as ID': SC in West Bengal SIR

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday clarified that Class 10 admit card accompanied by pass certificate can be produced as supplementary documentation for identity verification in the ongoing SIR exercise in West Bengal.

A bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi passed the order after senior advocate DS Naidu mentioned the matter.

The lawyer expressed concerns about whether such admit cards can be permitted to be a standalone identity document.

The top court said it has already directed that the admit card will only be a supplementary document.

"All documents mentioned in para 3(iii) of order dated February 24, 2026 which are not uploaded so far and received before February 15, shall be submitted by the Electoral Registration Officers, Assistant Electoral Registration Officers to the presiding judicial officers by tomorrow 5 PM.

"Similarly, para 3(iii)(c) is clarified to the effect that Madhyamik (Class 10) admit cards may be submitted along with pass certificate for the purpose of birth certificate and purposes of parentage," the bench said.

The apex court on Tuesday allowed the deployment of West Bengal civil judges, in addition to 250 district judges, and the requisitioning of judicial officers from Jharkhand and Odisha to handle 80 lakh claims and objections of those facing deletion from the electoral roll in the ongoing SIR exercise in the state.

It took note of a February 22 letter of Calcutta High Court Chief Justice Sujoy Paul that even if 250 district judges deployed in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise will take around 80 days to deal with the claims and objections of those put under logical discrepancy and unmapped categories.

The logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent's name and the age difference between a voter and his/her parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.

While issuing a slew of fresh directions, CJI Kant took note of the fact that even if each judicial officer deals with 250 claims and objections per day, the exercise will take around 80 days to conclude. The deadline for West Bengal SIR is February 28.

The bench permitted Chief Justice Paul to deploy civil judges from the senior and junior divisions with a minimum three-year experience to verify the claims and objections filed by the voters.

It asked the Calcutta High Court chief justice to request his Jharkhand and Odisha counterparts for requisition of judicial officers of similar ranks to deal with the situation.