The Supreme Court is hearing petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal.
During the previous hearing of the matter, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had appeared in person to argue a petition she had filed in the matter.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and NV Anjaria is hearing the matter.
Track this page for live updates from the hearing today.
Hearing begins.
Senior Advocate VV Giri: We have filed an application seeking some relief.
Senior Advocate Menaka Guruswamy (appearing for the state): This applicant who takes care of temples have now filed this plea.
SG Mehta: Why is this aversion to temples?
Justice Bagchi: One who goes to temple can also go to the polling booth...
Senior Advocate Shyam Divan: SIR is being conducted... this process ends on Feb 14. There is tremendous urgency for the reliefs which were sought. Please note that the draft electoral list has 7.08 crore voters. Out of this 6.75 crores are mapped by which it means that they were mentioned in 2002 list or identifiable with that list. 32 lakhs were unmapped. I am on mapped ones. 1.36 crores were put in the logical discrepancy list.
Senior Advocate Divan: Please see page 4 of the note. More than 50 percent of 70 lakh is for minor name variations.. such as 'Dutta' - 'Datta', 'Roy' - 'Ray' etc...
CJI Kant: Last time we said that due to unavailability of the manpower... ECI had to take manpower from outside whom they called micro-observers.
Shyam Divan: Now we have given 8,500 more workers to them. Our Saturday mail says that ... West Bengal government has said 8,555 Group B officers were being deputed..
CJI Kant: This is the problem. Full name of officers, with their nomenclature has to be given for their official deputation.
CJI Kant: Ideally when a statement was made before us on February 4 it should have been done then itself. Only names will not do. They have to report to the district collector etc. You did not require any confirmation from the ECI.
Senior Advocate AM Singhvi: Please see the note. Please see para 5 of this note. Till Feb 4 I have given 80,000 BLOs, 8,000 plus EROs were given who were all group b officers. Instead master craftsman, painters teachers not from Bengal, some PSU workers were deputed who had no knowledge of Bengal culture or work etc. They were the micro-observers the person has to do the work of BLO. Our officers were trained. Here rank was also low.
CJI Kant: But this 8,500 workers were deputed by you now... if it was done earlier then they would have approved.
AM Singhvi: ECI never made a request for the group B officers. They have involved or asked us.
CJI Kant: Can these persons report to the ERO by tomorrow?
Senior Advocate Divan: Yes, yes.
Senior Advocate DS Naidu (for ECI): We needed 300 Group B officers. We were given 80 and rest were class C and an assortment.
Senior Advocate Singhvi: There are 294 EROs. These group B officers report to the ERO. ERO is a group A officer.
Mr Manoj Pant (former Chief Secretary): All EROs, 294 are group A officers... all are SDM or SDO, some are IAS officers also. Completed 9 years. There are 3 to 4 AEROs per constituency. 8,500 AEROs are still working. 65% are group B officers. 10% is group C officers and rest are group A. AEROs are appointed by ECI.
Senior Advocate DS Naidu: We have written 5 letters saying EROs are quasi judicial authority and that we need SDM etc. They gave only 64 like that who can adjudicate and decide. Rest they gave on the basis of pay parity... like engineers etc. They are in no way conducted adjudicatory process. They say officers worked in elections. But in SIR they have to pass decisions which will be challenged in appellate forums. We need to know these 8,500 officers what work were they doing...
CJI Kant: We will remove hurdles but... We will not create any impediments in completion of SIR. Let us be very clear about it.
CJI Kant: There is an anomalous situation being conducted with regard to seniority.
Shyam Divan: These micro-observers. These purging of voter names cannot happen on such a large scale.
CJI Kant: Micro-observer is a team created by you to assist the ERO and AERO... Now...
DS Naidu: These micro-observers play an advisory rule. Like this is fine and this is not... these micro observers needed 10 days training. We have done that.
CJI Kant: Documents .. final yes or no decision is yet to be taken right. So if these officers join by tomorrow they can also give their opinion and then quality of decision by ERO will be more proper.
Justice Bagchi: The ground reality is that with the application of software the notices are being sent on a wider basis. You are saying 50 years is a grand parents age gap... this is how software is working... when marriages happens at 20... These are not ground realities.
DS Naidu: 200 voters have traced their parentage to a single parent.
Justice Bagchi (to the Election Commission of India): You have issued notices to ones who have 5-6 children. Yes, if 50, yes send them a notice! The tools that you have applied to the software are very restrictive tools. 'Kumar 'is a middle name in Bengali households... you have 'Tapan Kumar Roy' is there and now you have sent notices when name is 'Tapan Roy'.
Justice Bagchi (to CJI Kant): Imagine 'Suvendu Narayan Roy' was a fellow... 'Narayan' is a middle name. He was also served a notice.
Senior Advocate Naidu: How do we take the 8,500 officers without training them? Deadline is Feb 14.
DS Naidu: An untrained clerk is not more experienced than an untrained professor. We can see if they can be trained. We need to see the list, scrutinise them.
DS Naidu: We need to give them ID, software support etc. We can come day after tomorrow and submit to you. We can come back after 48 hours on their suitability.
Senior Advocate Divan: The name mismatch people cannot be excluded at all.
CJI Kant: Yes we are saying... That.
Shyam Divan: But let a direction be issued.
CJI Kant: But that will be a pre-emptory direction... to the ECI officials...
Shyam Divan: February 14 is a final SIR list. It will be fait accompli. Once there is a final electoral list and followed by notification for the assembly elections, that is the end of the story. There cannot be mass exclusion and a purging of names. Now on micro-observers... please see this...
CJI Kant: Micro-observers are appointed in the SIR process and that responsibility has to be given to the ERO. But yes, micro-observers cannot take a decision.
DS Naidu: Please ask them to provide a list of SDM etc.
Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan: West Bengal needs to make 8,000 districts to give them 8,000 sub divisional magistrates.
Shyam Divan: My goodness please see the last screenshot... ECI net login for micro-observers... they have to mark whether they agree with ERO or AERO.
DS Naidu: This was changed since then.
Shyam Divan: This is creating an extra election authority.
Shyam Divan: Reasons for rejection... only Aadhaar and so called family register. The general direction is to reject. Now see Aadhaar and admit card submitted... Now general instruction is that no document linking with parent is doubtful and should be rejected. Name mismatch with no other document name rejected. Even if they have two documents names are rejected. This is wholesale general instructions. The idea appears to be mass exclude.
Shyam Divan: This entire PowerPoint presentation was given by ECI on WhatsApp to its officials on January 23. Now see the extra legal role being given to the micro observers. Even though ERO and AERO finds its okay... it is the micro-observer who is playing they key role. There needs to be a direction that ERO has to be the final authority who takes a decision.
DS Naidu: It is a non issue. That is why letters were written to give SDM etc.
Senior Advocate Gopal S : 1.36 crores have been excluded. The final list cannot be published on Feb 14. Else it will be a fait accompli.
TMC leader Kalyan Banerjee: Bundle of objections are being filed by individuals without their identity. At the time of hearing they must be present, else how we know who made these objections... an objector is filing 1,000s of objections. These are all anonymous complaints.
Senior Advocate PC Sen: There is a looming deadline. 21(3) says SIR can happen but no deadline for the same. So till SIR, usual electoral roll will be in place.
Senior Advocate VV Giri: There have wholesale burning of form 7 objection forms. We have prayed for extension to submit objections since most of it were burnt.
CJI Kant: We have issued directions to the state DGP to look into such issues and take a call. ECI is not helpless...
SG Mehta: I appear for the Union... in Mr Giri's plea Union is a party. One constitutional body is threatening the election commission of India. Any directions can be passed to remedy the situation. Violence is being instigated by leader. Please go through the affidavit. A message has to go that Constitution applies to all states.
DS Naidu: States do not listen to us. AERO defy us and when we want to remove them we cannot do that.
Senior Advocate Giri: Leaders of political party is asking for objection forms be burnt. If there are claims there are objections. If form 7 objections are burnt then how will it proceed.
Kalyan Banerjee: In a minority constituency... there are 1,000 voters. 950 are put on the logical discrepancy list.
Advocate for Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha mentions plea against Mamata Banerjee appearing in court .
CJI Kant: What is unheard in it? This shows trust and faith in the constitution. Don't politicise this issue.
CJI Kant: On February 4, Ms Mamata Banerjee appeared along with her counsels. There was an objection raised on deployment of micro-observers by the ECI, and it was stated by ECI that despite repeated requests adequate manpower was not provided by the state government. On this, CM Banerjee made a statement that she was willing to provide state government officers who are competent enough to perform these duties. We have been shown that on Feb 7, the AoR informed senior counsels of ECI at 11:57 am that state is ready to provide 8,500 officers for the SIR exercise...
CJI Kant: During the course of hearing and on being enquired, state of West Bengal/CM stated that list containing particulars of the 8,555 officers were not sent since they were waiting for a reply to the Feb 7 mail to ECI. However the list has been handed over to Mr Naidu and has also been placed before us.
CJI Kant: To streamline the West Bengal SIR process and to take care of apprehension expressed we issue following interim directions:
Let the state of West Bengal ensure that all 8,555 group B officers whose list has been handed over today report to the district electoral officers (DRO) by 5 pm.
ECI shall have the discretion to replace the existing ERO, AERO and utilise the services of the present if found qualified
After briefly scrutinising their biodata, these state govt officials may be imparted a brief training of a day or two so as to work as the micro observers
The responsibility assigned to micro observers or the state govt officials shall be to only assist the EROs as the final decision will be of the ERO.
Since new set of government officials have been inducted, the process of scrutinising documents submitted by affected persons is likely to take more time and as suggested on behalf of some of the petitioners, we direct that one week more time shall be granted beyond February 14 to the ERO to complete scrutiny and take a decision.
CJI Kant: ECI has clarified that micro observers are not the decision making authority and shall only assist the ERO. Mr Giri and SG Mehta has pointed out to the counter filed by ECI where it is alleged that despite making complaints by election commission officials, no FIR lodged against the persons who burnt the objection forms. Senior Advocate Guruswamy strongly objects... We show cause the DGP to file his personal affidavit to explain his response to the counter affidavit by the ECI. We deem it appropriate for the DGP to explain this on his part.
CJI Kant: ERO shall take into account all documents that is there in the SIR notification and also the January 19, 2026, order of the top court.
DS Naidu: There have been erring officials also and we have made some recommendations for suspensions who acted illegally. But nothing done. When we needed some officers they were transferred.
CJI Kant (to the Secretary of the CM): Please look into this. When suspension advise is given... I hope state knows what to do. We order that ECI shall be at liberty to replace officers who are not performing their duty.