West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may attend the Supreme Court hearing on Wednesday in cases challenging the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The petitions allege arbitrariness and warn that the exercise could lead to mass voter disenfranchisement.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee may be personally present at the Supreme Court on Wednesday during the important hearing on petitions challenging the Election Commission’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
As per the Supreme Court’s official website, a Bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, is scheduled to hear three petitions filed by Mostari Banu and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen.
Mamata Banerjee has also filed a separate petition challenging the SIR exercise. However, her petition does not currently appear in the cause list for Wednesday’s hearing.
Sources have said that the Chief Minister, who holds an LLB degree, may still attend the hearing in person and present her submissions before the court.
Earlier, on January 19, the Supreme Court passed several directions after observing that the SIR process in West Bengal must be transparent and should not cause inconvenience to voters.
The Court directed the Election Commission to display the names of voters listed under “logical discrepancies” at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices. It also directed that these offices should accept documents and objections from affected voters.
The “logical discrepancies” identified by the Election Commission include cases where there is a mismatch in the 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 nearly 1.25 crore voters in West Bengal have been placed under the “logical discrepancies” category, the Chief Justice-led Bench directed that facilities for submission of documents and objections must be set up within panchayat bhavans or block offices. The Court also asked the West Bengal government to provide adequate manpower to support the election authorities during the process.
Mamata Banerjee filed her petition on January 28, making the Election Commission of India and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal parties to the case.
Earlier, Banerjee had written to the Chief Election Commissioner urging him to stop what she described as an arbitrary and flawed SIR process in the poll-bound state.
Continuing her sharp criticism of the Election Commission, Banerjee warned that continuing the SIR in its present form could lead to “mass disenfranchisement” and could “strike at the foundations of democracy”.
In a strongly worded letter dated January 3 addressed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, she accused the Election Commission of overseeing an “unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc” exercise that is affected by
“serious irregularities, procedural violations and administrative lapses”.
Earlier, Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien had filed an application alleging arbitrariness and procedural irregularities in the conduct of the SIR in West Bengal.
The application claimed that since the start of the SIR process in the state, the Election Commission has been issuing instructions to ground-level officials through “informal and extra-statutory channels”, including WhatsApp messages and oral directions given during video conferences, instead of issuing formal written orders.
The application stated,
“The ECI cannot act arbitrarily, capriciously or dehors law, nor can it substitute legally prescribed and set procedures with ad hoc or informal mechanisms,”
O’Brien filed this application in his already pending petition, which challenges the Election Commission’s order and guidelines directing the SIR in several states, including West Bengal.
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The application further stated that during the SIR in West Bengal, the Election Commission created and used a new category called “logical discrepancies” without issuing any written order or guideline. It alleged that this resulted in notices being issued to nearly 1.36 crore voters without any statutory backing.
The application has also sought a direction from the Supreme Court that the final electoral roll should be published only after all claims, objections and hearings are fully completed.
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