Lists of folly: On the Supreme Court, the SIR and benefits

The Supreme Court has reiterated its position that exclusion from the electoral rolls cannot have consequences unrelated to voting . The Court was responding to West Bengal government orders, issued in May-June, that linked welfare benefits and official caste certifications to the outcomes of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls . Those removed would become ineligible for certain welfare benefits and certifications under these orders. A May 19 notification directed that persons removed from the electoral roll should not continue as beneficiaries of the Annapurna Yojana, a cash transfer scheme for women, unless they had filed appeals before the SIR tribunal. A June 4 order directed the deletion of beneficiaries from the Public Distribution System. On May 14, the government decided to re-verify and cancel caste certificates of those persons whose names had been deleted from the rolls. These decisions run contrary to the clear instructions of the Court in the Bihar SIR case, which specifically barred authorities from using SIR outcomes for any purpose other than determining voting rights. The Court has now issued notices to the Election Commission of India, the West Bengal government and the State’s Chief Electoral Officer. Approximately 34 lakh appeals have been filed against SIR outcomes in West Bengal, and only a tiny fraction of them has been disposed of, leaving millions in a precarious state of uncertainty. Their exclusion from welfare benefits, including food support, is unconscionable.