Why West Bengal’s decision of linking social security benefits to SIR is being challenged | Explained
The story so far The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 23, 2026) asked petitioners challenging West Bengal government’s notifications of linking benefits under the Public
The story so far The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 23, 2026) asked petitioners challenging West Bengal government’s notifications of linking benefits under the Public Distribution System (PDS) and Annapurna Yojana to the outcome of the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal, to approach the Calcutta High Court. Paschim Banga Khet Majoor Samity, an independent trade union of agricultural labourers, marginal farmers and share-croppers, has approached the Supreme Court to challenge two notifications issued by the newly elected BJP government in West Bengal. What the order stated On June 4, the West Bengal Food and Supplies Department came out with an order titled ‘Verification and Deletion of Ineligible PDS Beneficiaries Based on the Outcome of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), 2026 of Electoral Rolls conducted in West Bengal’. The order stated that, based on the outcome of SIR, 2026, the department decided to undertake verification and deletion of those PDS beneficiaries who have been found ineligible on account of falling under any of the following categories. The five categories noted in the order included absentee, shifted, dead, duplicate (ASDD) electors in draft list as per the electoral roll published on December 16, 2025, unmapped cases identified during SIR process where concerned individuals were rejected after the hearing process, deletion in the second list after publication of the draft list, deleted after adjudication and electors found to be ASDD during Voter Information Slip (VIS) distribution during Assembly elections, 2026.
Not only does the order exclude voters deleted during the SIR, but also those electors found to be ASDD during voter information slip distribution, a process that was conducted after SIR, mostly on the eve of polling. The Food and Supply department’s order also directed the removal of the names of PDS beneficiaries based on booth-wise lists of deleted electors during a 12-day period ending June 15. What petitioners are arguing The PDS is governed under the Food Security Act, 2013, one of the most comprehensive pieces of legislation in the country, providing the right to food for citizens in the country. What the petitioner is challenging before the court is that the benefits of PDS cannot be deprived of a disability being invented through a subsequent executive action and linked with an electoral process like the SIR. The petitioners argue that in the Bihar SIR judgement, while upholding the SIR exercise, the Supreme Court on May 27, 2026, had said that the Election Commission is empowered to undertake a limited enquiry into citizenship for the purpose of satisfying itself as to eligibility for inclusion in the electoral roll. “Such an enquiry does not amount to a determination of citizenship in the strict sense, and any action taken pursuant thereto is confined to electoral consequences alone,” the bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi had said.
The BriefWire