Mamata Banerjee Argues Her Own Case in Supreme Court, Mounts Strong Attack on Election Commission Over Voter Roll Revision

New Delhi —
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday Mamata Banerjee to Appear Personally in Supreme Court to Challenge ECI’s Electoral Roll Revision in Bengal, challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. A trained advocate by profession, Banerjee became the first sitting chief minister to present arguments in person during a Supreme Court hearing, after obtaining permission through an interlocutory application.

Banerjee has consistently opposed the SIR exercise in West Bengal and has urged that the upcoming Assembly elections be conducted on the basis of the 2025 voter list. Appearing before the court, she said the revision process was being carried out in a manner that risked disenfranchising genuine voters.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, and comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi, heard a batch of petitions related to the SIR. The cases included petitions filed by Banerjee, Mostari Banu, and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen.

During her submissions, Banerjee launched a sharp attack on the Election Commission of India (ECI), alleging large-scale deletion of voters, appointment of micro observers from BJP-ruled states, and an attempt to “bulldoze” the people of Bengal. She questioned why a similar exercise was not undertaken in Assam, another state governed by the BJP.

“West Bengal is being selectively targeted,” Banerjee told the court, arguing that the revision was being rushed in non-BJP-ruled states while being avoided elsewhere. She claimed that the process was unfair, opaque, and politically motivated.

Banerjee’s petition seeks to quash all SIR-related orders issued by the ECI on June 24, 2025, and October 27, 2025, along with all connected directives. She contended that the revision drive violated voters’ rights and ignored ground realities in the state.

The hearing came days after the Supreme Court, in an earlier proceeding on January 12, directed the ECI to make the SIR process more transparent, accessible, and voter-friendly. At that time, the bench had observed that ordinary citizens were under severe strain, noting that over one crore voters had been issued notices.

Speaking emotionally in court, Banerjee said she was not receiving justice despite repeated representations to the poll body. She claimed to have written six letters to the ECI regarding the SIR exercise but received no response. Referring to the alleged use of WhatsApp for issuing directions to election officials, she once again described the poll panel as a “WhatsApp Commission.”

Banerjee also raised concerns over document verification, alleging that despite Supreme Court directions, Aadhaar cards were not being accepted in West Bengal, while other documents such as domicile certificates and family register cards were allowed in other states. On this issue, Chief Justice Surya Kant clarified that the court had reserved judgment on Aadhaar’s role and therefore could not comment on its validity at this stage.

According to submissions made by Banerjee and her counsel, senior advocate Shyam Divan, around 58 lakh voters had already been deleted from the rolls, while nearly 88 lakh had been flagged for discrepancies. Divan further informed the court that approximately 32 lakh voters were “unmapped,” 1.36 crore were placed in the logical discrepancy list, and hearings were pending for around 63 lakh cases, even as the final electoral roll was scheduled to be published within days.

The chief minister highlighted what she described as procedural excesses, including deletion of women voters whose surnames changed after marriage and voters being flagged for minor spelling or linguistic mismatches. She argued that such practices disproportionately affected women, migrant voters, and rural residents.

Banerjee also referred to reports of booth-level officers (BLOs) facing extreme pressure during the SIR exercise, claiming that more than 100 people had died and several officials had been hospitalised amid the rushed process. She questioned why similar pressures were not seen in Assam.

Reiterating that her fight was not political, Banerjee told the bench that she was standing up for ordinary citizens. “I am not fighting for my party. I belong to that state. When justice is crying behind closed doors, we feel we are not getting justice anywhere,” she said, appealing to the court to protect democracy and people’s lives.

The Supreme Court emphasised that voter protection remained its primary concern. “Every problem has a solution. No innocent citizen should be left out,” the bench observed. It directed the West Bengal government to propose a panel of officers familiar with Bengali naming conventions and local dialects to assist the ECI in correcting errors without excluding genuine voters.

The court also asked the Election Commission to clarify whether notices issued for minor discrepancies could be withdrawn and cautioned the poll body against mechanically issuing notices. It specifically advised the ECI to exercise care while sending notices, noting that prominent figures such as Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash (retd), and cricketer Mohammed Shami had also received SIR notices.

Following the hearing, TMC MP and advocate Kalyan Banerjee said the chief minister had argued that the SIR process focused largely on deletions, with little effort made toward inclusion over the past four months. He reiterated her claim that the exercise was being conducted hastily in states governed by non-BJP parties.

The Supreme Court issued notices in two petitions and directed that a connected matter, in which the ECI has already filed an affidavit, be listed on Monday. The bench said all related issues would be heard together during the next hearing, scheduled for February 9.

The SIR exercise in West Bengal began on November 4, 2025. The draft electoral roll was published on December 16, with January 19 set as the deadline for claims and objections. The final electoral roll is currently expected to be published on February 14, though the timeline may be extended depending on the outcome of the ongoing proceedings in the Supreme Court.