Kolkata: The deletion of parents’ names from the voter list during SIR cannot be taken into consideration while deciding a candidate’s eligibility for an Economically Weaker Section (EWS) certificate, Calcutta High Court said on Monday and directed North 24 Parganas administration to urgently consider the application of a 22-year-old MBBS aspirant.Within hours of the HC directive, an EWS certificate was issued to Priyanshu Mukherjee, who has secured 471 out of 720 in NEET UG 2026.Priyanshu’s category rank is 16,401 and he expects to be placed in a govt medical college. He is scheduled to appear for document verification at SSKM Hospital on Tuesday. Even with merit on his side, Priyanshu had to approach the high court a day before the verification process after being denied an EWS certificate. He was informed verbally by the ADM’s office that the reason for refusal was the deletion of his mother’s name from the voter list following the 2026 SIR. No written statement was provided to him. That Priyanshu’s name appears on the state’s post-SIR electoral roll and he voted in the recent assembly polls did not cut ice with the officials.Hearing his appeal, Justice Krishna Rao on Monday directed the additional district magistrate of North 24 Parganas to immediately consider his request and pass an appropriate order by 5 pm if he is found to be eligible for an EWS certificate or to assign reasons explaining why he is ineligible. “It is made clear that the authority shall not take into consideration the deletion of the name of the mother from the voter list,” the judge said.Priyanshu lost his father in 2008. Both his parents’ names were on the 2002 SIR list but his mother, Rekha Mukherjee, was struck off the electoral roll due to a discrepancy in her name. Her maiden name was Kakoli but post-marriage, she came to be known as Rekha. The system could not determine that Kakoli and Rekha were the same person, leading to the name deletion.While Rekha waits for her appeal to be heard by the tribunal, her son cleared NEET UG. The mother and son did not expect any obstacle in his admission since Priyanshu was issued an EWS certificate twice before, in 2024 and 2025. He applied for an EWS certificate on June 24 and kept waiting.“For the past week, I have run from pillar to post, approaching govt officials to politicians, begging for my mother’s name to be restored on the voter list but nothing happened. A govt official suggested that I try my luck at Calcutta High Court. I am grateful that it worked,” Priyanshu told TOI.
