West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday appeared in person before the Supreme Court and flagged various issues in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal..Wearing a white dress with a black scarf around her neck, Banerjee forcefully addressed the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice VM Pancholi, pushing back against interjections from counsel on the other side."I belong to that State," Banerjee said in the beginning."There should be no doubt, madam!" CJI Kant replied."I am very grateful because of your kindness. My humble regards to Justice Bagchi and Justice Pancholi ji also...," Banerjee responded..Beginning her submissions, the Chief Minister said,"The problem is our lawyers always fought our case from the beginning but when everything is finished, we are not getting justice. When justice is behind doors. We are not getting justice anywhere. So many times I have written, six letters to Election Commission including all the details but no reply, sir. I am a bonded labour, sir. May be I pay for that. I am a very less important person, I pay for that. I am from common family but I am not fighting for my party".At this stage, CJI Kant interrupted "Madam Banerjee"."State of West Bengal in its own right has filed a petition...Best of the legal team in Supreme Court are there to represent the case of the State," Justice Kant said.However, the Court allowed Banerjee to continue with her submissions and acknowledged the procedural difficulties being witnessed in the State, adding that all must look towards finding a solution."Every problem has its solution. We must look toward the solution to ensure that no innocent citizen is left out".Attempting to respond to the CJI, Banerjee said,"If you allow me 5 minutes only".CJI Kant in a reassuring manner said, "We will give you not 5, we will give you 15 minutes"..When the counsel appearing for ECI interrupted, Banerjee with "folded hands" said,"Please allow me, sir!"After some exchange between the Court and ECI counsel, Banerjee once again began to emphatically highlight the issues being faced on ground. "Their SIR process is only for deletion, not inclusion," the Chief Minister said. He highlighted that women, who have married, were being put to notice for shifting to in-laws house or using the husband's title. She went on to allege that the ECI had failed to comply with directions of the Supreme Court in respect of the logical discrepancy list."Bengal people are so happy that this Court gave order that Aadhaar card will be one of proof documents but they said 'No'. In other states, the domicile certificate, the family register card, the government housing card are allowed, the health card is allowed... they only targeted Bengal on the eve of elections. What was the hurry? What takes two years is being done in three months even when festival, harvesting season is there," Banerjee added.She highlighted the deaths of electoral officers during the SIR process. "Because of the harassment, because Bengal is targeted. Why not Assam, why not north eastern [States]," she said loudlyWhen the counsel for ECI objected to her submissions, CJI Kant said,"Madam has come all the way to speak".CJI Kant added that the Court won't be able to comment on certain issues, like Aadhaar, as the decision on petitions challenging SIR's legal validity has been reserved.The hearing then progressed with Banerjee making her points in between. At one point, Banerjee said the ECI was "WhatsApp Commission", an apparent reference to the passing of instructions to electoral officials via the messaging app. The Court assured that it will intervene and pass directions."We are very grateful", Banerjee said with folded hands when the hearing concluded..Last year, the ECI had held an SIR in Bihar ahead of the assembly polls there. Multiple petitions, including those filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation for Indian Women (NFIW), challenged the legality of the process. However, the ECI proceeded with the SIR since the top court did not impose any stay on the same.Subsequently, the ECI extended the SIR to other States and Union Territories, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. This led to multiple petitions challenging the same. The Court reserved its decision on them on January 29..Banerjee subsequently moved the Court challenging the ECI's decision to hold a SIR in the State and sought a direction that the polls be conducted on the basis of the existing rolls prepared last year. She has also sought an urgent direction to halt deletion of voters - particularly those under the “Logical Discrepancy” category, from the electoral rolls.In her plea, Banerjee expressed an apprehension of immediate and irreversible threat of mass disenfranchisement of eligible voters in the upcoming state assembly elections. This will disrupt the level playing field for political parties in the polls, the Chief Minister has said.“The entire SIR exercise is an effort at disenfranchising the existing voters on the Electoral Roll by forcing them to prove their citizenship with “documentary” evidence against an arbitrary cut-off date of 2002. This violates the Constitution, the Representation of the People Acts of 1950 and 1951,” the Trinamool Congress leader has argued..Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.
