Supreme Court To Hear Mamata Banerjee’s Plea Against Electoral Roll Revision In West Bengal

The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear a plea filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

Banerjee is likely to attend the crucial hearing at the apex court, where a batch of petitions questioning the SIR exercise in West Bengal is listed.

As per the Supreme Court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi is scheduled to hear the petitions, including those filed by Banerjee, Mostari Banu and TMC MPs Derek O'Brien and Dola Sen.

Sources said the chief minister, who holds an LLB degree, may appear in court and present her submissions. TMC sources also confirmed that she is likely to be present during the proceedings.

On January 19, the top court issued a series of directions, observing that the SIR process in West Bengal must be transparent and should not cause inconvenience to voters.

The court directed the Election Commission (EC) to display the names of individuals on the "logical discrepancies" list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections would also be received.

Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include cases where there is a mismatch in a parent’s name, or where the age difference between a voter and their parent is less than 15 years or more than 50 years.

Noting that 1.25 crore voters in the state feature on the "logical discrepancies" list, the CJI-led bench directed that centres for submitting documents and objections be set up within panchayat bhavans or block offices, and asked the West Bengal government to provide adequate manpower to assist election authorities.

Banerjee filed her petition on January 28, naming the EC and the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer as respondents.

She had earlier written to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), urging him to halt the "arbitrary and flawed" SIR in the poll-bound state.

Stepping up her criticism of the EC, Banerjee warned that continuation of the SIR in its present form could lead to "mass disenfranchisement" and "strike at the foundations of democracy".

In a strongly worded letter dated January 3 to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, she accused the poll panel of overseeing an "unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc" exercise marked by "serious irregularities, procedural violations and administrative lapses".

Earlier, O'Brien had filed an application alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the conduct of the SIR of electoral rolls in the state.

The application claimed that since the start of the SIR process in West Bengal, the EC has issued instructions to ground-level officials through "informal and extra-statutory channels", including WhatsApp messages and oral directions during video conferences, instead of formal written orders.

"The ECI cannot act arbitrarily, capriciously or dehors law, nor can it substitute legally prescribed and set procedures with ad hoc or informal mechanisms," the application said.

O'Brien filed the application in his pending petition challenging the order and guidelines issued by the poll panel directing SIR in various states, including West Bengal.

The application further stated that during the SIR exercise in West Bengal, the EC had created and implemented a new category termed "logical discrepancies" without any written order or guideline, to "issue/decide to issue notices to 1.36 crore electors without any statutory basis".

It has also sought a direction to the poll panel to publish the final electoral roll only after the disposal of all claims, objections and hearings.