Justice Surya Kant

Supreme Court says it cannot fix a timeline for SIR appellate tribunals

Hearing Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's plea over the roughly 34 lakh voters deleted in West Bengal's SIR, the Supreme Court said it could not fix a deadline for the appellate tribunals to decide appeals, though it would monitor their functioning, and directed the Commission to produce data on disposal rates. Justice Bagchi noted that at current rates the backlog would take about 21 years to clear. The case was adjourned to 25 August 2026.

Not previously recorded. Precedes numbers-wb-affidavit-appeals-2026-09-17 and numbers-wb-reply-obrien-appeals-2026-09-18, the later disposal-data affidavits the Court sought here.

• TIER 3 · PRESSWest Bengal SIR | Can't Fix Timeline For Appellate Tribunals, Says Supreme CourtLiveLaw2026-08-11“Timeline we cannot fix”