SC asks Mamata Banerjee, TMC leaders to file fresh pleas on SIR-linked victory margins

The Supreme Court on Monday indicated that former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other Trinamool Congress leaders could file fresh petitions raising concerns over election results in constituencies where the margin of victory was allegedly lower than the number of votes deleted during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

The observation came during a hearing linked to the long-running legal battle over the Election Commission’s voter roll revision exercise in West Bengal, which had triggered fierce political controversy ahead of the Assembly elections and later became central to the Trinamool’s allegations of electoral manipulation after its defeat to the BJP.

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Senior counsel appearing for Banerjee and other petitioners argued that in at least 31 Assembly seats, the number of deleted or excluded voters during the SIR process exceeded the eventual victory margin, raising serious questions over the integrity and possible impact of the exercise on the election outcome.

The Election Commission opposed the submissions and told the apex court that challenges related to election results could only be pursued through election petitions after the declaration of results, and not through broader constitutional challenges to the SIR process.

The court, while not expressing any final opinion on the merits of the allegations, observed that affected candidates and parties were free to move fresh pleas or pursue remedies available under election law.

The SIR exercise in Bengal had emerged as one of the most politically explosive issues before the Assembly polls, with Banerjee repeatedly accusing the Election Commission of carrying out “targeted deletions” and attempting to disenfranchise voters under the guise of electoral clean-up.

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At the peak of the controversy earlier this year, Banerjee personally appeared before the Supreme Court — an extremely rare move for a sitting chief minister — and argued that the revision exercise was “not for inclusion but deletion”.
She alleged that lakhs of legitimate voters, including women, migrant workers and minorities, were being unfairly flagged due to spelling mismatches, address changes and “logical discrepancies” in electoral records.

The Supreme Court had earlier raised concerns over the scale of deletions during hearings on the SIR process.

The Election Commission, however, has maintained that the revision drive was necessary to remove duplicate, shifted and ineligible voters from the rolls and insisted that due process, including appellate mechanisms, was available for aggrieved individuals.