India, Feb. 24 -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday invoked its special powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to ensure that no eligible voter is left out of the electoral roll in West Bengal because of procedural timelines, making an extraordinary intervention ahead of the state assembly elections. Only the Supreme Court is constitutionally armed with Article 142, a residuary power that permits it to issue orders to do "complete justice".

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to continue publishing supplementary voter lists even after the final electoral roll is notified on February 28. The court declared that elector...