New Delhi, April 2 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed appellate tribunals in West Bengal to examine fresh documents filed by aggrieved voters appealing for inclusion and exclusion under the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR), after thorough verification. The bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and consisting justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, cautioned the Election Commission of India against creating an "oppressive" situation for people, adding that the "valuable" right to vote cannot be "washed out". The order was passed after the bench was informed that the 19 tribunals headed by former high court judges were set up to conduct a second round of appeals for voters classified under the "logical discrepancy" category by the ECI. Judicial officers dealt with the first round of appeals. "If the exclusion (from the electoral roll) is found unwarranted, we see no reason why the decision should not be altered by the tribunal and also if a person is incorrectly included, we see no reason why the entire cleansing exercise should not be gone into," said the bench, ordering the ECI to provide tribunal members access to all records along with reasons for exclusion and inclusion. The tribunal was allowed to devise its own procedure and was permitted to even entertain fresh documents (not filed during the first round of adjudication). Senior advocate Dama Sesadari Naidu, appearing for ECI, objected to the order. "Entertaining fresh documents will open a Pandora's Box. They were already provided an opportunity to file documents and they have chosen not to file." Naidu also requested the court to consider having a time frame for tribunals to pass orders. "We are looking at two independent aspects - the list on which elections are to be conducted and another is the right to vote.If the appellate tribunal decides by the last date, those names may be included in the roll. But those beyond the last date, their valuable right to vote cannot be washed out. This cannot lead to an oppressive situation," said the court. A report presented by Calcutta high court chief justice said that the tribunals will be based at Kolkata's SP Mookerjee National Institute of Water and Sanitation, run by the Union Jal Shakti ministry. ECI informed the court that the tribunal members were being trained in the necessary software and can begin working from Thursday. The West Bengal government led by chief minister Mamata Banerjee said that the degree of exclusion by ECI was 45%, which is very high, and nearly 1.9 million (almost 55%) were included in the rolls after adjudication. Counsels for the chief minister and other petitioners raised concerns over alleged "bundles" of new voters (Form 6) being registered for inclusion ahead of the assembly elections on April 23 and 29. "It is not unusual. It happens in every state but it cannot be done in a hidden manner," said the court, and refrained from dealing with the issue presented to it by way of oral submission. The petitioners' demand for a cut-off date to add new voters to the roll was acknowledged. The petitioners argued that this cut-off date was July 1, 2025. The bench noted that the petitioners are not "remediless" as the law governing new voters requires a list to be published and objections to be raised. The court posted the matter for further hearing on April 6, the date fixed by ECI for finalisation of roll for the first phase of WB polls, to monitor further progress in the matter....