SIR not for inclusion of voters but deletion: Mamata Banerjee before SC

West Bengal Chief Minister alleges voter exclusion and selective enforcement as Supreme Court seeks Election Commission's response on SIR process

The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard an unusual intervention by West Bengal Chief Minister (CM) Mamata Banerjee, who personally addressed the court in her writ petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

 

This marked the first instance of a sitting CM making oral submissions before the apex court.

 

Although Banerjee was represented by Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, she briefly addressed the top court bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul Pancholi, alleging that the SIR exercise was being used to exclude, rather than include, legitimate voters.

 

“This process is not for inclusion but for deletion,” Banerjee told the court, submitting that women who change surnames after marriage and shift residences were being removed from electoral rolls on the ground of alleged discrepancies.

 

Claiming that repeated representations to the Election Commission of India (ECI) had gone unanswered, Banerjee said justice was being delayed.

 

“When we are not getting justice, when justice is crying behind the door, then we had to come here. I have written letters to the ECI with all details, but there is no reply,” she said.

 

Responding, CJI Surya Kant noted that several petitions concerning the West Bengal SIR process were already pending before the court.

 

He recalled that after issues were flagged earlier by Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing in connected matters, the court had issued directions on January 19 requiring transparent verification of voters placed in the “logical discrepancy” list.

 

Banerjee alleged non-compliance by the ECI, including its refusal to accept Aadhaar cards as proof of identity in Bengal, even though Aadhaar was being accepted in other states. The CJI said Aadhaar had inherent limitations and refrained from commenting further, noting that judgment had been reserved on the legality of the SIR process.

 

The Bengal CM also alleged that the revision exercise was being selectively enforced in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections. Questioning the timing, she said the exercise was being rushed during festival and harvest seasons, leading to harassment of voters and election officials.

 

She further claimed that around 8,000 “micro-observers” had been appointed, overriding booth-level officers (BLOs), resulting in largescale deletions.

 

“Living people are being declared dead… they want to bulldoze the people of Bengal,” Banerjee said, also alleging that instructions were being issued informally through messaging platforms, which she described as a “WhatsApp Commission”.

 

The CJI responded that the court would ensure that all actions were formally authorised by BLOs.

 

Appearing for the ECI, Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi submitted that micro-observers were appointed only because the Bengal government failed to provide adequate Group-B officers for SIR duties despite repeated requests. Senior Advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu, also appearing for the ECI, echoed the submission, citing lack of cooperation from the state administration.

 

At the conclusion of the hearing, the bench issued notice to the ECI and sought its response by next Monday. It said micro-observers could be withdrawn if the state furnishes a list of officers for SIR duties, and cautioned the Commission against issuing hearing notices for minor spelling mismatches.

 

Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union government, told the court that ECI officials were facing an “atmosphere of hostility” in West Bengal, and sought tagging of a PIL seeking protection for election staff. The bench agreed to hear the PIL along with Banerjee’s plea.

 

Divan pressed for urgent interim reliefs, warning that over 1.36 crore voters in the “logical discrepancy” list were yet to be heard, with only days left before publication of the final electoral rolls. He argued that minor spelling variations, particularly in Bengali names transliterated into English, should not trigger hearings or deletions.

 

Banerjee’s petition seeks, among other reliefs, quashing of the SIR notifications, conduct of the 2026 Assembly elections on the basis of the 2025 electoral rolls, withdrawal of micro-observers, acceptance of Aadhaar as proof of identity, and safeguards to ensure that no eligible voter is disenfranchised during the revision exercise.