West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday personally argued before the Supreme Court against.
The Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, appearing as a “common citizen” in a rare courtroom intervention by a sitting chief minister. Dressed in a black coat over her white saree, Banerjee waited for over two hours before addressing a bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant. When she did, she sharply criticised the poll panel, accusing it of causing “unprecedented hardship” to voters in Bengal and denying them justice.
“Justice is crying behind closed doors,” Banerjee told the court, claiming lakhs of legitimate voters had been wrongly excluded. She said she had written six letters to the Election Commission without receiving a response. Although Banerjee sought only five minutes to make her submissions, the Chief Justice allowed her 15 minutes to present her case.
Why Banerjee moved the Supreme Court
Banerjee urged the court to direct that voter lists for the upcoming March–April elections be prepared using data from 2005, rather than the ongoing 2026 SIR exercise. She argued the accelerated revision — which she said normally takes two years — was being rushed through in three months, resulting in large-scale exclusions.
She alleged the exercise disproportionately affected Bengal and accused the Election Commission of acting under pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party, a charge the poll body has denied. “Why is this not happening in Assam?” she asked, alleging selective targeting of Bengal.
She also challenged the deployment of 8,300 micro-observers across the state, describing them as partisan appointments and constitutionally invalid.
‘Logical discrepancy’ and voter deletions
A key concern raised was the deletion of voters due to “logical discrepancies”, including spelling errors, changes in surnames after marriage, and address changes. Banerjee said around 63 lakh voters faced exclusion on this basis. She cited cases where minor variations in the spelling of Bengali names in English had led to deletions, calling the practice arbitrary.
The bench observed that spelling variations were common when names were transliterated into English and said such discrepancies could not justify removal from voter rolls.
Banerjee sought directions to restore voters excluded for “logical discrepancy” without requiring them to appear for individual hearings. She also asked the court to order the Election Commission to publish the names of 1.4 crore deleted voters on its website in a machine-readable format and to accept Aadhaar as valid proof of identity.
Allegations against the poll body
Criticising the manner of communication, Banerjee dubbed the poll panel a “WhatsApp Commission”, alleging notices were being issued digitally, forcing citizens to wait for hours to resolve discrepancies. She also raised concerns over the deaths of booth-level officers (BLOs), claiming over 100 had died due to work-related pressure during the SIR exercise, with several others hospitalised.
Arguments by lawyers
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Banerjee, told the court that only four days remained before publication of the final electoral rolls, while over 1.36 crore voters marked for discrepancies were yet to be heard. “It is impossible to complete the process within the deadline,” Divan said, adding that the Election Commission had not disclosed reasons for placing voters in the discrepancy category.
Representing the Election Commission, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi said micro-observers had been appointed because the state government failed to provide adequate officials for SIR work despite repeated reminders.
Court’s observations
Describing the concerns raised as “genuine”, the Supreme Court issued notice to the Election Commission and sought its response by Monday. On the issue of micro-observers, the bench said they could be withdrawn if the state furnished a list of officials who could be spared for SIR duties.
The Chief Justice also asked the poll panel to act in a “sensible manner” while issuing notices over minor spelling errors, citing cases involving Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, poet Joy Goswami, and Trinamool MP Dipak Adhikari.
Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta told the court there was an “atmosphere of hostility” towards Election Commission officials in Bengal and sought to tag the matter with a separate plea seeking protection for poll officials. The court agreed to list that petition on Monday.
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