R.Rajagopal (left) was allegedly unable to renew his passport this week following his deletion from the SIR in West Bengal
Kerala Chief Minister V D Satheesan and the Editors Guild of India highlighted the case of R Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph, allegedly not being able to renew his passport this week. This came after his name was deleted from the West Bengal electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) earlier this year.
The new BJP government in Bengal had announced in May that the people deleted from the rolls during the SIR would not be able to avail welfare schemes. These developments may signal consequences for the lakhs of electors whose names were deleted in the SIR, even as their appeals are pending before Supreme Court-appointed tribunals.
What is Rajagopal’s case?
The former editor, originally from Kerala and a resident of Kolkata for 30 years, says he applied for passport renewal in February. Meanwhile, he was among the 27 lakh Bengal electors whose names were deleted following an unprecedented adjudication process ordered by the Supreme Court after the Election Commission flagged him for having a “logical discrepancy” in his documents.
He found his name deleted in a supplementary list published on March 27, leaving him unable to cast his vote in the Bengal Assembly election in April.
With the police verification for his passport renewal pending, he says he was called by the police to the Security Control Organisation office on May 20, where he was told that police clearance could only be given when his name was restored on the electoral roll. Rajagopal told The Indian Express Tuesday that he had not received any information on the status of his appeal pending before the tribunal, however, he was asked by the passport authorities on Tuesday to seek another police verification.
What does the law say?
Defending the SIR in the Supreme Court last year, the EC had said the exercise was a revision of the electoral rolls, not a determination of citizenship.
In its judgment upholding the EC’s right to conduct the SIR in May, the Supreme Court said that while the EC had the right to determine citizenship of electors, it was limited in nature. “The consequence of such a determination is correspondingly limited. It affects the individual’s entitlement to be included in the electoral roll, and thereby their right to participate in the electoral process. It does not, however, operate to divest the individual of claims of citizenship, nor does it foreclose a determination of that question by the Competent Authority under the Citizenship Act,” the judgment says.
The EC’s own instructions accompanying its June 24, 2025 SIR order makes it clear that the Electoral Registration Officers are to refer the cases of suspected foreign nationals to the competent authority. It is for the Ministry of Home Affairs to make a determination.
Why then are deleted electors facing denial of basic services?
Even as their appeals remain pending before the tribunals, deleted electors in Bengal will not be given rations and access to other government welfare schemes under instructions of the Suvendu Adhikari government. While there is no direct link between the electoral roll and government schemes and services, the EC-issued voter card is one of the most widely-used forms of ID submitted as proof.
The Bengal Food and Supplies Department in June ordered a verification of Public Distribution System beneficiaries to remove those “ineligible” based on the SIR deletions.
For passport renewal, it is not mandatory to have a Voter ID, but it can be provided as a proof during the verification. During the police verification, the applicant can provide the Aadhaar, PAN card or Voter ID as an identity proof.
The Editors Guild of India said: “The police verification appears to have been denied on the basis that Mr. Rajagopal’s name no longer figured on the electoral rolls! Mr. Rajagopal’s plight highlights the misery that millions of Indians are being put through due to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission of India. If it could happen to someone like Mr. Rajagopal, a known public figure, the fate of others who have similarly been disenfranchised by a bureaucratic stroke of the pen, and lacking the voice to seek redressal can only be imagined.”
Writing to Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari on Monday, the Kerala Chief Minister sought his intervention in Rajagopal’s case. “I understand that the adverse report is based on the deletion of his (Rajagopal’s) name from the electoral roll under the SIR. While the electoral issue is being dealt with through an appropriate appeal process, I am informed that the police report has had the effect of delaying the renewal process of his passport. I would like to request your good self to kindly look into the matter with urgency.”
