New Delhi, Feb. 25 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution and directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue publishing supplementary voter lists even after the final electoral roll is notified on February 28 for West Bengal, in an extraordinary move to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised ahead of the state assembly elections. Article 142 is a unique constitutional power vested exclusively in the Supreme Court, enabling it to pass any order necessary to "do complete justice" in a cause or matter before it. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, clarified that electors included in such supplementary lists would be deemed part of the final roll published on February 28. "The last date of electoral roll verification is February 28. However, if the verification exercise remains incomplete as on February 28, the ECI may publish the final list followed by supplementary final lists. Such supplements shall be published on a continuous basis as soon as the pending exercise is complete in respect of all such cases. We deem it appropriate to invoke our power under Article 142 and declare that voters enlisted in the supplementary lists shall be considered to be a part of the final list published on February 28," the bench ordered. The court said the direction was necessary to ensure the "fairness of the process" while simultaneously preserving the "purity and sanctity of the electoral roll." By invoking Article 142, the court effectively neutralised the rigid statutory timeline, which ordinarily bars inclusion if an application is made less than ten clear days before nominations to enable verification of claims. Tuesday order, however, ensures that this procedural constraint does not disenfranchise otherwise eligible voters. The order came after the bench considered a "self-speaking" communication dated February 22 from the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court, detailing the scale of the verification exercise. The communication highlighted that approximately 80 lakh cases, falling under categories such as "logical discrepancies" and "unmapped category", required adjudication. Over 250 district and additional district judges are currently dealing with nearly 50 lakh claims and objections. Even if each judicial officer were to dispose of 250 cases daily, the exercise would take around 80 days -- far beyond the February 28 deadline, the court noted. With assembly polls expected in March-April, the timeline posed a serious challenge. In another unprecedented step, the court permitted the chief justice of the Calcutta High Court to draw additional judicial manpower to complete the exercise "on a war footing." In addition to civil judges (senior and junior division) with at least three years' experience, the chief justice has been authorised to approach the chief justices of neighbouring states, including Jharkhand High Court and Orissa High Court, to spare serving and retired judicial officers for the task....