Mamata Banerjee Argues In Supreme Court Against WB Voter Roll Revision
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared before the Supreme Court today to argue her petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out in the state by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The matter was heard by a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. Banerjee has moved the top court against the ECI, alleging that the ongoing SIR process could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement of voters in West Bengal.
In her writ petition, filed on January 28, Banerjee described the SIR exercise as opaque, hurried, unconstitutional and illegal. She claimed that the process unfairly targets West Bengal and could deprive lakhs of genuine voters of their voting rights.
A key concern raised by the Chief Minister relates to people placed under the “Logical Discrepancy” (LD) category. According to Banerjee, around 58 lakh names have been deleted without giving affected individuals a proper opportunity to appeal.
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She also pointed out that the list of LD-category voters has not been uploaded on the official portal, despite earlier court directions. This, she argued, has denied transparency and prevented voters from responding or correcting errors.
During the hearing, Banerjee strongly asserted that West Bengal was being selectively targeted.
She argued that LD cases should not result in deletion and that such matters should be resolved by Designated Officers (DOs) and Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), not by micro observers.
The Election Commission, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and senior advocate Ranjit Kumar Dwivedi, countered that the state government had not provided enough Group B officers to conduct the process. Due to this shortage, the ECI said it was compelled to appoint micro observers.
Banerjee disputed this claim, stating there are no statutory rules allowing such appointments and insisted that the state had cooperated to the best of its ability.
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The Chief Justice acknowledged both sides and suggested a practical solution. The court asked the West Bengal government to submit a list of Group B officers it can spare, so the issue can be resolved without relying on micro observers.
The bench also advised the Election Commission to ensure its officers act sensitively and avoid unnecessary notices to voters.
The Supreme Court issued notice in the matter and ordered that the Election Commission’s counter affidavit be taken up along with related cases. The matter is scheduled to be heard again on Monday.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee reiterated her demand that upcoming elections in West Bengal be conducted using the existing electoral rolls prepared last year, until concerns over the SIR process are fully addressed.
(With inputs from Live Law)
