New Delhi, July 17 -- The Supreme Court on Friday issued notice to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the West Bengal government on a plea seeking directions that persons whose names are deleted from the electoral rolls after rejection of their appeals by Special Tribunals under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal should not be deprived of welfare benefits under government schemes.

The petition, filed by Prasenjit Bose, contends that deletion from the electoral roll should not automatically result in exclusion from schemes such as the Public Distribution System (PDS), the Annapurna scheme and other welfare programmes providing monetary and social benefits.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sury...