Supreme Court to hear Mamata Banerjee plea today
During the last hearing, the apex court issued a notice to the Election Commission on Chief Minister Banerjee’s plea.
The Supreme Court will hear an important case on Monday, February 9. The case is linked to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. She has challenged the ongoing Special Intensive Revision, or SIR, of electoral rolls in the state. West Bengal is scheduled to go to polls later this year.
As per the cause list published by the Supreme Court, the matter will be heard by a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant. The Bench also includes Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice N.V. Anjaria. The court will hear Mamata Banerjee’s plea along with similar petitions filed by Trinamool Congress MPs Dola Sen and Derek O’Brien.
It involves checking and updating voter lists. Mamata Banerjee has questioned the legality of this process. In her petition, she has accused the Election Commission of acting with political bias.
She has claimed that the way the SIR is being done could lead to the deletion of names of lakhs of voters. According to her, many of these voters belong to marginalised sections of society. She fears that genuine voters may lose their right to vote ahead of the state elections.
In her plea, the Chief Minister has asked the court to issue interim directions. She wants the Election Commission to be restrained from deleting any voter’s name during the SIR exercise. This request is especially focused on voters placed under what is called the “logical discrepancy” category.
During the previous hearing in the case, the Supreme Court had issued a notice to the Election Commission on Mamata Banerjee’s plea. The court then fixed the matter for further hearing on Monday.
At that time, the CJI Surya Kant led Bench made some key observations. The Bench said that spelling differences due to local dialects are common across India. The judges said such variations cannot be used as a reason to exclude genuine voters from the electoral rolls.
Addressing the court, Mamata Banerjee said that certain groups were being affected more than others. She said women who change their surnames after marriage face problems during voter verification. She also said people who shift homes are being unfairly flagged during the revision process.
The Chief Minister further alleged that West Bengal was being selectively targeted. She told the court that similar voter revision exercises were not being carried out in states like Assam and other Northeastern regions. She said this raised serious questions about fairness.
Mamata Banerjee also claimed that her government had made several representations to the Election Commission. According to her, these concerns were ignored. She said the lack of response added to doubts about the intention behind the SIR exercise.
Responding to these arguments, the CJI led Bench assured the Chief Minister that the Supreme Court would step in. The Bench said it would look for a practical solution. The judges also made it clear that no genuine voter’s right can be taken away.
Ahead of Monday’s hearing, another development took place. The West Bengal government informed the Election Commission that it could provide 8,505 Group B officers. These officers can be used for the remaining part of the SIR exercise.
The state government also made a specific request. It said that Bengali speaking officers should be deployed during the voter revision work. This, it said, would help avoid problems related to language and spelling mistakes.
Meanwhile, the Election Commission issued a clarification that sparked fresh controversy. The poll body said that permanent resident certificates issued by elected public representatives or Block Development Officers would not be accepted for the SIR process.
The Election Commission explained that only certificates issued by certain officials would be valid. These include District Magistrates, Additional District Magistrates, and Sub Divisional Officers. In Kolkata, certificates issued by Collectors will be accepted. The rules for this were set under legal provisions notified in 1999.
This clarification did not go down well with the ruling Trinamool Congress. The party strongly objected to the Election Commission’s stand.
She claimed that this move was aimed at deleting genuine names from the voters’ list. According to her, many poor and marginalised voters depend on local certificates. Rejecting them, she said, would cause serious harm.
The issue has now become a major political and legal battle. With elections approaching, both sides are standing firm. All eyes are on the Supreme Court hearing scheduled for Monday. The court’s decision is expected to have a strong impact on the voter revision process in West Bengal and possibly beyond.