- By Raju Kumar
- Wed, 04 Feb 2026 03:42 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Bengal SIR SC Hearing: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday appeared in the Supreme Court for the hearing of her plea against the Special Intensive Revision of the state's electoral rolls.
Speaking in the top court, the TMC chief accused the Election Commission of colluding with the BJP government at the Centre and targeting West Bengal, asking, "Why the same yardstick is not applied in Assam?" which will also go to polls this year.
Mamata Banerjee further alleged that the SIR exercise is being carried out only to the exclusion of voters and not their inclusion. "This SIR is for deletion, not inclusion," alleging that lakhs of voters had been wrongly flagged under "logical discrepancies".
During the hearing, Mamata Banerjee sought five minutes to explain the irregularities and difficulties faced by citizens during the state's electoral roll revision. The CJI allowed her 15 minutes to speak on the issue.
"We are not getting justice anywhere. I have written several letters to ECI," she told the bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi.
Mamata Banerjee further alleged that many living persons have been declared dead by the EC during the ongoing SIR process and said, "EC is not allowing Aadhaar and seeking other documents also from voters for electoral roll revision."
At the onset of the hearing, Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for Mamata Banerjee, highlighted "a huge number of unmapped voters" and alleged that the Election Commission is issuing notices to hundreds of people due to logical discrepancies, saying that the names in most of such cases "are misspelt and can be rectified easily."
"58 lakh voters had already been deleted and around 88 lakh voters were flagged, while nearly 3 lakh objections were still pending, even as the final publication of the rolls was scheduled within 11 days," Banerjee's lawyer said, adding that "hardly any time is left for remedial measures."
The lawyer further argued that common Bengali surname variations such as Datta and Dutta, Roy and Ray, Ganguly and Ganguli were being treated as mismatches. "These are not spelling mistakes. These are local dialect differences which happen across India. A daughter goes to her in-laws' house after marriage and uses her husband's surname. They (ECI) are removing her. Is that a reason to delete her name?" Banerjee asked.
The Court, however, assuring protection to genuine voters, said, "We will ensure that no innocent citizen is left out," CJI Surya Kant observed. The CJI added that minor spelling or dialectal differences cannot be grounds for exclusion. The Bench clarified that names of deceased or disqualified persons would, however, have to be removed as per law. "Dead persons or disqualified voters, whatever may be the ground, will have to be deleted," the court said.
Taking note of all submissions, the Supreme Court issued notice to the ECI seekinga response to Banerjee's plea and said the matter would be taken up again on Monday, granting time to the Commission to examine the new grievances highlighted by the petitioners.
The Court was hearing a batch of petitioners, including the West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee and AITC MP Derek O Brien, who filed pleas challenging the Election Commission's SIR of voter rolls in West Bengal.
Earlier, owing to allegations of procedural irregularities by petitioners, the apex court had issued a slew of directions to the ECI, pertinently to publish names of persons categorised in the "logical discrepancy" list, which could lead to exclusion from the voter list. Today, Banerjee herself appeared in Court and made submissions on her behalf.
Standing up for the people, Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached the Supreme Court.
— All India Trinamool Congress (@AITCofficial) February 4, 2026
Today will stand as an example before the entire nation and the world. pic.twitter.com/2C8MAFucQQ
Will Support If Motion For Impeachment Of CEC Is Brought: Mamata
Meanwhile, Banerjee pushed the impeachment card against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, seeking support from other opposition parties on the issue. Her remarks came a day after she, along with her delegation, walked out of a meeting with CEC Kumar and other election commissioners on the SIR issue and alleged that the poll panel chief displayed arrogance and humiliated them.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, flanked by scores of people from West Bengal who have allegedly been affected by the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), Banerjee claimed the electors whose names were being deleted from the roll are supporters of her party.
(With PTI inputs)