EC ‘WhatsApp commission’, SIR to bulldoze Bengal people: Mamata; SC issues notice

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday vehemently urged the Supreme Court to intervene in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to "save democracy", alleging the state is being targeted and its people are being bulldozed. The top court took note of Banerjee's petition and rare arguments ever advanced by a serving chief minister before it, and said "genuine persons must remain on the electoral roll". A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi issued notices and sought replies by February 9 from the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal on her petition. "West Bengal is being targeted," Banerjee alleged, asking why the same yardstick was not applied in Assam. "They are targeting West Bengal to bulldoze its people," said the chief minister, who was permitted by the bench to supplement submissions of her lawyer and senior advocate Shyam Divan. "We are not getting justice anywhere. I have written six letters to the Election Commission," she said, seeking justice from the bench.

At the fag end of the hearing, Banerjee conveyed her regards to the bench for the opportunity to argue and urged it to "save democracy". CM Banerjee has challenged the SIR of electoral rolls in the state. Divan, appearing for Banerjee, referred to the huge number of unmapped voters and said there was hardly any time left for the remedial measures as the process is to conclude on February 14. He said the poll panel has to upload the reasons for citing names in the "logical discrepancy" list. Divan said that as of now, 1.36 crore persons have been issued notices after they were found to be in violation of logical discrepancies. Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent's name and the age difference between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years. Divan said in many cases, names of persons issued notices for logical discrepancy were misspelt and it could be rectified easily. The CJI referred to a Bengali dialect and said at times, names are misspelt because of it. The bench said electoral roll revision, at times, deals with migration also, but genuine persons must remain in the voter list. "Every problem has a solution and we must ensure that no innocent person is left out," the CJI said.

Banerjee alleged that the poll panel is not allowing Aadhaar and seeking other documents from the voters for electoral roll revision. She claimed that many alive persons have been declared dead by the EC during the ongoing process. Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the poll panel, countered the charges and alleged that the state government has provided the services of only 80 grade-two officers like SDMs for overseeing the SIR process. He said only low-ranked government employees like Anganwadi workers have been provided by the West Bengal government for the process. Banerjee countered the EC's charges and said the state has provided whatever was sought by the poll panel. On January 19, the top court passed a slew of directions, observing that the SIR process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience. It directed the EC to display the names of those on the "logical discrepancies" list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted. Banerjee had earlier written to the chief election commissioner (CEC), urging him to halt the "arbitrary and flawed" SIR in the poll-bound state. Sharpening her attack on the EC, CM Banerjee had warned that continuation of the SIR in the present form could trigger "mass disenfranchisement" and "strike at the foundations of democracy". In a strongly worded letter dated January 3 to CEC Gyanesh Kumar, she accused the EC of presiding over an "unplanned, ill-prepared and ad hoc" process marked by "serious irregularities, procedural violations and administrative lapses".