Former Calcutta High Court Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam has resigned from the appellate tribunal constituted to hear challenges against the exclusion of names from electoral rolls following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Justice (retd) Sivagnanam was among the 19 former judges appointed by the Election Commission, following directions from the Supreme Court, to adjudicate appeals arising from decisions of judicial officers on deletion of names from electoral rolls.
"I submitted my resignation letter to the Hon'ble Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court yesterday," Justice (retd) Sivagnanam told PTI.
One of the most notable rulings delivered by Justice Sivagnanam during his tenure on the tribunal was ordering the restoration of Congress leader Motab Shaikh’s name in the electoral rolls after it had been deleted during the SIR process. Shaikh later went on to win the election from Farakka.
Justice Sivagnanam enrolled with the Bar Council of Tamil Nadu in September 1986. He was appointed as an additional judge of the Madras High Court in March 2009 and became a permanent judge in March 2011.
He was transferred to the Calcutta High Court in October 2021 and served as its chief justice from May 2023 until his retirement on September 15, 2025.