Supreme Court told: West Bengal leaders threatening Election Commission, obstructing voter roll verification

The Supreme Court on Monday was urged to pass directions amid safety concerns being raised by Election Commission of India officials who are undertaking the Summary Revision of Electoral Rolls process in West Bengal.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, told the court that the ECI had filed affidavits raising concerns over the situation in the state.

"One constitutional body is threatening the Election Commission of India. Any directions can be passed to remedy the situation. Violence is being instigated by leader. Please go through the affidavit. A message has to go that Constitution applies to all states.", the SG submitted before a bench also comprising Justices Joymalya Bagchi and NV Anjaria.

Senior Advocate Giri further told the bench, "Leaders of political party is asking for objection forms be burnt. If there are claims there are objections. If form 7 objections are burnt then how will ECI proceed...".

The Election Commission of India recently informed the Supreme Court that amid zero cooperation from the local police in West Bengal, numerous instances of violence, intimidation and obstruction against the officials engaged in the SIR process have been documented.

An affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court by the ECI stated that in stark contrast to the professed commitment to cooperation with the SIR, the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has persistently delivered a series of public addresses that are inherently provocative, thereby engendering an atmosphere of intimidation among the election officials tasked with the preparation and revision of the electoral roll.

"In continuation of the aforementioned conduct, the Hon’ble Chief Minister, on 14.01.2026 conducted a Press Conference in which she is reported to have engaged in fear-mongering, disseminated misleading and erroneous information regarding the SIR process, overtly threatened and targeted election officials, and sought to incite alarm amongst the electorate. It is also reported that the Hon’ble Chief Minister, during her reported speech, explicitly identified and targeted a Micro Observer, Shri Hari Das, thereby publicly isolating an election official performing statutory duties and subjecting him to unwarranted pressure and intimidation," the affidavit adds.

ECI has also highlighted specific instances of direct interference and obstruction during the Notice Phase proceedings which have been reported from the field. Reports of the Chief Electoral Officer and Special Electoral Observer and Electoral Roll Observer have been cited by the ECI which indicate that during the visit of the Electoral Roll Observer to SIR hearing camps at Magrahat- I, Magrahat-II and Kulpi Block under Diamond Harbour Sub-Division of South 24 Parganas district a mob attacked, raised slogans, obstructed the official work and damaged the vehicle of the Electoral Roll Observer.

Supreme Court has further been informed of a statement by a sitting Minister of West Bengal that he will" break the legs of Election Commission", and another statement by an MLA suggesting that the deletion of names during the SIR would constitute “playing with fire”.

As part of additional safeguards during the SIR exercise, the ECI had appointed IAS officers from central government departments in neighbouring states and Delhi as roll observers in West Bengal. Their mandate is to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls during the exercise. By January 20, the total number of roll observers deployed in the state had risen to 37.

Senior counsel Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission of India (ECI), recently told the Supreme Court that the Commission was compelled to appoint micro observers in West Bengal after the State failed to provide an adequate number of Class II officers, responding to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s allegation that such observers were being empowered to delete voters’ names.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, is hearing a batch of petitions challenging the SIR process.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also appeared in person before Court. She had alleged that the SIR was not an addition exercise but effectively a deletion exercise. Banerjee alleged that people frequently change residences due to marriage or employment and that women often change their names after marriage, leading to discrepancies in identity documents. She accused the ECI of targeting opposition-ruled states, including West Bengal, on the eve of elections.

She also contended that a process that should have taken two years was being compressed into three months, claiming that over 100 booth-level officers had died during the exercise. Banerjee further alleged that documents such as domicile certificates were not being accepted and that micro observers appointed by the ECI were being authorised to delete names without granting any hearing to affected voters.

The SIR of electoral rolls in West Bengal is being carried out by the ECI ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections to update and verify voter records. The exercise involves house-to-house verification, issuance of draft rolls, and calling voters for hearings to resolve “unmapped” entries and “logical discrepancies” such as inconsistencies in age, names or relationships when matched with earlier rolls when compared with previous rolls. The process has seen notices sent to a large number of electors and triggered controversy over potential deletions and enfranchisement issues.

The exercise, governed by the ECI’s powers under the Constitution and electoral law, aims to include eligible voters and remove ineligible ones, but has been politically contentious in West Bengal with allegations of arbitrariness and risks of voter exclusion. While the ECI maintains that the exercise is meant to ensure accuracy, political parties and the petitioners in the abovementioned petitions have alleged arbitrariness and a lack of adequate safeguards during the verification process.

Case Title: Mostari Bapu vs Election Commission of India and Anr with connected matters

Bench: CJI Kant, Justices Bagchi and Anjaria

Hearing Date: February 9, 2026