The Supreme Court on Friday said it would take up on April 13 petitions challenging the Election Commission’s “freeze” on the Bengal electoral rolls with effect from April 9.

However, the bench orally observed that no one was having their right to vote taken away “permanently”, as opposed to being possibly unable to vote in the upcoming election.

During the morning mentioning time, a counsel representing some aggrieved voters from Bengal had complained the voter list had been frozen although a thicket of appeals against deletions remained pending before the tribunals.

While the adjudication process has excluded 27 lakh voters, the 19 judicial tribunals have so far heard just four appeals.

The counsel for aggrieved voters underlined that the tribunals had set aside the deletions in all the four cases they had heard while commenting about the lack of application of mind by the adjudicators who had excluded these voters.

“We will consider the freezing issue on 13th (April),” Justice Joymalya Bagchi said.

Chief Justice Surya Kant headed the bench, whichalso included Justice VipulM. Pancholi.

Senior counsel D. Seshadri Naidu, representing the poll panel, said the present appellants’ right to vote remained as they were placed similarly with others whose appeals had been allowed by the tribunals. He did not elaborate.

Justice Bagchi then observed: “What was the architecture… we are thinking ... that there is a cut-off line with respect to ‘A’ (present) election, and underlying is a constitutional right to be on the electoral roll and to vote in further elections. That is a much higher and permanent right.”

The implication seemed to be that although some voters might be deprived from voting in the upcoming election, they would be able to vote in future polls if the tribunals upheld their appeals.

Justice Kant orally told the counsel: “You are not being deprived permanently (of the right to vote).”

When the counsel said the appellants were passport holders, the Chief Justice replied: “We can’t promise.… Every day you keep filing matters.”

The counsel responded: “It is out of need that we are filing.”

Overall, the SIR in Bengal has deleted nearly 91 lakh voters. Those deleted after the adjudication of their “logical discrepancies” can appeal to the tribunals.