India, 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 voter is disenfranchised ahead of assembly elections, which are now likely to be marginally delayed.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, also permitted the chief justice of the Calcutta high court to draw additional judicial manpower from Jharkhand and Odisha high courts to complete the exercise "on a war footing".

The unprecedented decisi...