West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will appear before the Supreme Court on Wednesday and seek permission to argue her pending petition challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
She has moved an interlocutory application seeking permission to appear and argue in person.
Banerjee will be personally present in court room 1 tomorrow along with her lawyers. A gate pass issued in the Chief Minister's name confirms her presence in court tomorrow.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi will hear the case tomorrow.
Banerjee had earlier filed an Article 32 petition challenging the SIR process.
In her latest interlocutory application, Banerjee has stated that she is the petitioner in the Article 32 writ petition and is well acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the case.
She has submitted that as the sitting Chief Minister of West Bengal and chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, she is fully aware of the decorum and procedure of the Supreme Court and undertakes to conduct herself in accordance with established rules and practice
Banerjee completed law from Jogesh Chandra Choudhury College of Law, Calcutta. Last reports of her practicing as a lawyer date back to 2003.
The application further asserts that Banerjee is aware of the ground realities faced by residents of West Bengal due to the SIR process being undertaken by the Election Commission of India, which is under challenge in the writ petition.
Her appearance in person would assist the Court in the effective adjudication of the case, she has contended.
In her main petition, she has sought quashing of multiple directions and instructions issued by the ECI.
She has also sought a direction that the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections be conducted on the basis of the existing electoral rolls instead of rolls which will be revised after SIR.
She has also prayed that the electoral authorities be directed that cases involving name mismatches or spelling variations in the 'logical discrepancy' category be not called for hearing during the ongoing SIR process.
All such name corrections must be carried out suo motu on the basis of available records, she has said. She has also prayed that all documents issued by competent authorities as identification proof be accepted.