SIR West Bengal: Citizenship Not Just by Religious Identity, Verification of Proof Needed! Supreme Court’s Big Message in SIR Case

SIR West Bengal: The Supreme Court of India has made a significant observation regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process in West Bengal and the issue of granting citizenship. The Apex Court has clearly stated that citizenship or legal decisions cannot be based solely on religious identity; rather, decisions must be made after verifying appropriate proof in each individual case. Justice Surya Kant made these remarks while hearing a petition demanding protection and citizenship for non-Muslim citizens who arrived from Bangladesh.

The case was primarily filed by people belonging to Hindu, Buddhist, and Christian communities who entered India from Bangladesh before 2014. Their demand was to be granted protection under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Advocate Karuna Nundy, representing the petitioners, argued that just as protection was granted under the CAA in the Basudev case judgment, the petitioners should receive similar benefits and be provisionally included in the SIR list.

Supreme Court’s Observation

During the hearing, Justice Surya Kant explicitly stated that the court cannot take a separate decision based merely on religious identities such as Jain, Buddhist, or Christian. Whether the petitioners have adequate legal proof to obtain citizenship must be verified separately according to each case’s merits before any decision is reached.

The court further informed that there would be no separate hearing for this specific case. Instead, it has been tagged with the main case. The matter will be listed along with other related cases on December 9, when the next hearing will take place. Notices have been issued to all concerned parties by the court in this regard.

Changes in SIR Schedule

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has announced changes to the schedule for the SIR or special voter list revision process in West Bengal. To facilitate the general public, the dates for form submission and the publication of the voter list have been extended. The revised schedule is given below:

This decision by the Election Commission will provide extra time to many people in the state who have not yet been able to participate in the SIR process. However, it remains to be seen how the Supreme Court’s current observation will shape the legal battle concerning the citizenship issue.