NEW DELHI: Trinamool Congress MP and advocate Kalyan Banerjee on Wednesday said the Supreme Court flagged “two important points” while hearing West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s plea challenging the Election Commission’s special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, and listed the matter for further hearing on Monday.“Today, the writ petition filed by Mamata Banerjee was taken up for hearing and she argued her case. The honourable court observed that if required more time will be given to her to argue the matter,” Banerjee told reporters, adding that the bench noted that “two important points have been taken in the petition itself.” According to Banerjee, Mamata argued that only deletion of names was underway while no inclusion process had been carried out for nearly four months. She also questioned the deployment of micro-observers, saying there was “no power to appoint a micro observer,” and alleged that many had been brought in from BJP-ruled states.He claimed the CM told the court that the revision exercise was being conducted hurriedly in non-BJP states, while it had not begun in several BJP-ruled states. Banerjee also cited examples of alleged discrepancies, including spelling variations in names. “Father’s name was Khan. Now this time they have printed Kha whose mistake it is,” he said, adding that the court itself cited examples such as Datta and Dutta, and Bipool versus Bipul.He further said the Election Commission has been asked to address these concerns and that the court orally observed that timelines may need to be extended, as nearly 56–60 lakh cases were still pending with only four days left.The Supreme Court on Wednesday began hearing Mamata Banerjee’s plea seeking urgent directions to halt deletion of voters’ names, scrap the SIR, rely on existing electoral rolls, ease verification norms and accept Aadhaar.A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymala Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi is hearing the matter. Mamata, represented by senior advocate Shyam Divan, addressed the court in person, saying she belonged to the state and thanking the bench for its kindness. She told the court that when justice is “crying behind closed doors”, it creates a sense that justice is not being delivered.Divan informed the court that around 32 lakh voters remain unmapped, 1.36 crore names figure in the “logical discrepancy” list, and hearings are pending in nearly 63 lakh cases. He also submitted that about 8,300 micro-observers had been deployed, a category he argued is not contemplated under the Constitution. He said approved documents such as domicile certificates, Aadhaar and OBC certificates were allegedly being rejected, forcing voters to queue for hours.Responding, the Chief Justice said genuine voters must remain on the rolls, adding, “Every problem has a solution, and we must ensure that no innocent person is left out.”The court issued notices to the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal and posted the matter for hearing on February 9.Mamata told the court she had written six letters to the EC and described herself as a “bonded labourer”, saying she was fighting not for her party but for a larger public cause.The hearing comes amid an ongoing standoff between the Trinamool Congress leadership and the Election Commission over the SIR exercise. Earlier this week, Mamata met chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in Delhi and later alleged she was “humiliated” during the meeting.(With inputs from agencies)
