<p>New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/west-bengal/west-bengal-assembly-elections-2026-tmc-counters-pm-modis-bengal-speech-with-seven-point-reality-check-3962173">assembly polls in West Bengal</a>.</p><p>The poll panel has frozen and finalised the electoral rolls on April 9 for the assembly seats which are going to polls in the first stage.</p><p>Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted for all polls on May 4.</p><p>The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters list for this assembly polls.</p><p>A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by a lawyer to take up the plea against freezing on an urgent basis.</p><p>The lawyer said many appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls are still pending and the poll panel has frozen the rolls on April 9.</p><p>"We will consider the petition on April 13," the CJI said.</p><p>Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, said the freezing date was April 9 and after that none will be considered.</p>.Election Commission likely to roll out SIR in remaining 22 states, Union territories post April Assembly polls.<p>"Right to vote remains, these appellants are similarly situated like others whose appeals were allowed," Naidu said.</p><p>"What was the architecture …we are thinking. There is a cut-off line with respect to an election, and underlying is a constitutional right to be on the electoral roll and to vote in further elections. That is much higher and permanent," Justice Bagchi said.</p><p>The CJI said the person is not being deprived permanently.</p><p>On April 6, the bench noted that around 60 lakh claims and objections of those removed from voters' lists in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal have been decided.</p><p>It had asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a three-member panel of former senior judges to frame uniform procedures for 19 tribunals for deciding appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls.</p>
<p>New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear on April 13 a fresh plea along with pending ones challenging the freezing of electoral rolls by the Election Commission ahead of the upcoming <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/elections/west-bengal/west-bengal-assembly-elections-2026-tmc-counters-pm-modis-bengal-speech-with-seven-point-reality-check-3962173">assembly polls in West Bengal</a>.</p><p>The poll panel has frozen and finalised the electoral rolls on April 9 for the assembly seats which are going to polls in the first stage.</p><p>Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted for all polls on May 4.</p><p>The freezing of electoral rolls means that no new person, who has been deleted, can be added to the voters list for this assembly polls.</p><p>A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi was urged by a lawyer to take up the plea against freezing on an urgent basis.</p><p>The lawyer said many appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls are still pending and the poll panel has frozen the rolls on April 9.</p><p>"We will consider the petition on April 13," the CJI said.</p><p>Senior advocate D S Naidu, appearing for the poll panel, said the freezing date was April 9 and after that none will be considered.</p>.Election Commission likely to roll out SIR in remaining 22 states, Union territories post April Assembly polls.<p>"Right to vote remains, these appellants are similarly situated like others whose appeals were allowed," Naidu said.</p><p>"What was the architecture …we are thinking. There is a cut-off line with respect to an election, and underlying is a constitutional right to be on the electoral roll and to vote in further elections. That is much higher and permanent," Justice Bagchi said.</p><p>The CJI said the person is not being deprived permanently.</p><p>On April 6, the bench noted that around 60 lakh claims and objections of those removed from voters' lists in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in poll-bound West Bengal have been decided.</p><p>It had asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to constitute a three-member panel of former senior judges to frame uniform procedures for 19 tribunals for deciding appeals against deletions from the electoral rolls.</p>