A public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Calcutta High Court, on the need for implementation of Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which is underway in West Bengal, to ensure the process is conducted fairly and lawfully.
The petitioner, Pintu Karar, sought an extension beyond the December 31 deadline to conduct SIR in the state and raised concerns over the electoral revision exercise being conducted in the wake of the political crisis and administrative failure, which he claims the state is facing.
The petitioner also appealed for the SIR to be monitored by the court.
During the hearing on Thursday, the petitioner argued that there have been reports of intimidation and threats issued to officials working under the direction of the Election Commission (EC). The petitioner alleged that booth-level officers (BLO), who go from door to door to distribute enumeration forms in various localities across the state, are being threatened by antisocial elements who are forcing them not to delete any name from the voter list.
The court said the state government will look into providing adequate security for the BLOs on duty.
The petitioner stated that this situation in West Bengal is not the same as Bihar, and alleged that there has been a spate of suicides in Bengal as people were afraid of being questioned about the authenticity of their voter details that appear in the current list of 2025. Many voters do not have their names or the names of their parents or grandparents in the 2002 SIR list, which is a reference point for the current SIR process.
The petitioner’s emphasis was on the need in the first place to implement the voter revision exercise and that the Election Commission of India should instead consider the present electoral list and not refer to the 2002 SIR list, according to the Representation of the People’s Act. The SIR was last conducted in 2002 in West Bengal.
The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sujoy Pal and Justice Parthasarathy Sen asked whether the Supreme Court (SC) order was being followed in West Bengal for SIR.
Rakesh Dwivedi, the counsel representing ECI, said the order of the Supreme Court was being followed even as the SIR is underway in West Bengal and that voters who are in the 2002 list do not need to produce any documents.
As per the Supreme Court order, the Aadhaar card would be a valid document, but not as proof of citizenship.
Meanwhile, the state sought time to submit their affidavit in the matter.
The court ordered ECI to file a short affidavit within 10 days on November 18 on the need for the SIR in West Bengal. The court will hear the case on November 19.