Supreme Court seeks responses on plea for provisional voter enrollment of CAA applicants

The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Centre, ECI and West Bengal on a plea seeking provisional voter enrolment for CAA-eligible migrants from Bangladesh. The petition argues that delays in citizenship processing risk disenfranchising applicants during the ongoing electoral revision exercise

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre, the Election Commission of India (ECI), and the West Bengal government on a plea seeking provisional Special Interim Revision (SIR) for Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians who migrated to the state from Bangladesh before 2014.

The bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the petition filed by NGO Atmadeep and sought responses from the authorities concerned.

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The matter will be heard next on December 9. The petition contends that despite applying for Indian citizenship before 2014, many migrants — who fled Bangladesh due to religious persecution — have not received any relief or progress on their applications.

According to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), such persecuted minorities are eligible for Indian citizenship. The CAA’s provisions apply to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and were exempted under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 192,0, or the Foreigners Act, 1946.

The 2019 amendment introduced a Section allowing these groups to apply for registration or naturalisation as Indian citizens. The petition notes that several applications for naturalisation from eligible migrants remain pending due to administrative delays.

It further highlighted that many others are still awaiting an opportunity to apply for citizenship under Section 6B through the online mechanism introduced by the Citizenship (Amendment Rules), 2024.

The NGO also points out that a significant number of these migrants have been living in India for years, and their names already feature on the 2025 electoral rolls.

It argues that to prevent disenfranchisement during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), these individuals should be granted provisional voter enrollment. The plea urges the Supreme Court to issue directions ensuring protection for such applicants until their citizenship process is completed.