A defiant Mamata Banerjee lashed out at the Election Commission as the West Bengal Chief Minister entered the Chief Justice of India (CJI)’s chamber on Wednesday to argue her petition challenging the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls in the state.
“Justice is crying behind closed doors,” she told the Supreme Court, requesting five minutes to present her case before CJI Surya Kant. The CJI granted her 15 minutes to speak before the bench.
Banerjee began her arguments by accusing the Election Commission of India (ECI) of ignoring her repeated requests. “The problem is that in the end, we don’t get justice anywhere. I have written six times to the ECI but did not receive any reply,” she said, escalating into a broader criticism of the poll body.
The bench, also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and VM Pancholi, acknowledged that Banerjee’s plea was genuine and assured that every issue raised would be addressed. The court issued a notice to the ECI and asked it to exercise caution while sending out SIR notices. “Tell your officers to be a little sensible,” the court remarked, in reference to Banerjee’s submission that SIR notices had been sent to prominent figures, including Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, Bengali poet Joy Goswami, and Trinamool MP Dipak Adhikari.
During the hearing, Banerjee argued that the state does not want citizens excluded from voter lists over language or spelling discrepancies. She cited the example of a woman whose name was removed from the rolls for using her in-laws’ surname after marriage, adding that the EC lists such individuals as having “logical discrepancies.”
She also alleged that the ECI is violating court orders by not accepting Aadhaar documents and accused the Commission of selectively targeting West Bengal ahead of elections. “In other states, domicile certificates and caste certificates are accepted. They only targeted Bengal on the eve of elections. Four states are going to polls. Why, after 24 years, the rush to do this in three months?” she asked.
Banerjee further highlighted the deaths and hospitalizations of booth-level officers (BLOs) linked to the SIR exercise. “During the harvesting season, when people are travelling, more than 100 BLOs died or were hospitalized. Why not Assam?” she questioned.
Before the hearing concluded, Banerjee claimed that Bengal is being “bulldozed” and appealed to the court, folding her hands: “Please protect the people’s rights, sir.”(Agencies)
