Citizen’s Handbook for Filing SIR Voter Deletion Appeals

This handbook is a practical legal and procedural guide for citizens, grassroots workers, community leaders, legal-aid volunteers, and advocates assisting people excluded from West Bengal’s electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

According to the handbook, the SIR began in November 2025, approximately 7.66 crore voters were mapped, and almost 91 lakh voters had been excluded by April 2026. In Mostari Banu and Others v. Union of India, the Supreme Court directed the creation of appellate tribunals. The Election Commission of India subsequently constituted 19 tribunals headed by former High Court judges through Notification No. 39/WB/2026(SIR), dated 20 March 2026.

Key Findings:

• Explains commonly used terms, tribunal jurisdictions, and the procedure for filing appeals online and offline.
• Provides guidance on preparing petitions, affidavits, identity and electoral documents, additional evidence, legal representation, tracking appeals, and following up with the tribunal.
• Includes sample appeal formats for nine situations: a relative’s details could not be established; linkage to the wrong parent; incorrect sibling names; correct sibling and father details but continued exclusion; parent details not filed; age discrepancy of 15 years or less where the 2002 SIR age was correct; age discrepancy of 15 years or less where the 2002 SIR age was incorrect; age discrepancy of 50 years or more where the 2002 SIR age was incorrect; and age discrepancy of 50 years or more where the 2002 SIR age was correct.
• Contains a sample application for producing additional documents and multiple examples of appeals that were actually filed.
• Aims to make the appellate process understandable and usable beyond urban legal-aid camps, particularly for affected people in rural and remote areas.

The handbook treats access to appeal not merely as an administrative step, but as part of protecting dignity, equal citizenship, and the right to vote.