Mamata Banerjee moves Supreme Court against ECI’s electoral roll revision in Bengal
New Delhi, Feb 2: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to carry out a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, Bar & Bench reported. In her plea, Banerjee has raised concerns over what she described as an immediate and irreversible risk of mass disenfranchisement of eligible voters ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. She has sought a direction that the elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared last year.
The Trinamool Congress leader has also urged the court to direct electoral authorities not to call for hearings in cases involving name mismatches or spelling variations placed under the ‘logical discrepancy’ category during the ongoing SIR. Such corrections, she argued, should be carried out suo motu based on available records. She has further sought a direction that all identity documents issued by competent authorities be accepted as valid proof.
Filed through advocate Kunal Mimani, the petition alleges that the SIR could lead to the disenfranchisement of lakhs of voters, thereby disturbing the level playing field among political parties. Banerjee has contended that the exercise compels voters to prove citizenship through documentary evidence linked to an arbitrary 2002 cut-off date, in violation of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951.
She has further argued that the revision is being conducted with undue haste, within less than 90 days and just months before the scheduled Assembly elections. The plea highlights alleged procedural lapses and practical difficulties, warning that the process could disproportionately affect poor and migrant workers who travel outside the state for seasonal employment. The petition also accuses the ECI of conducting the SIR in a chaotic manner, citing arbitrary rejection of documents, inconsistent instructions, opaque rules and reliance on untested software and algorithms. Banerjee has further alleged that electoral officers are receiving instructions through WhatsApp messages, despite Supreme Court directions to the contrary, and that lists of voters placed in the ‘logical discrepancy’ category have not been uploaded online.
