Supreme Court asks for special tribunals to hear appeals of voters excluded in West Bengal SIR

The Supreme Court of India directed the constitution of special tribunals to hear appeals against exclusions from the electoral roll during the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process. The court ordered that these tribunals be presided over by retired judges and that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would pay their honorarium and cover all expenses. The court also instructed the ECI to append supplementary lists containing names of voters cleared by judicial officers to the final voter list, publish them promptly, and communicate reasons for exclusion to affected electors. The decision came after the court intervened in the SIR process due to a "trust deficit" between the Mamata Banerjee government and the Election Commission.