West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addressed the Supreme Court during the hearing on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, saying she knows Bengal well and that the issue is not a personal battle but a fight for the people. She sought time to place her concerns before the court, which agreed to hear her submissions.
The hearing focused on alleged irregularities in the SIR process, particularly notices issued over name mismatches and spelling differences. Senior advocate Shyam Divan argued that recipients of such notices must be informed of the reasons and that notices based solely on name mismatches should be withdrawn.
Name Spelling Dispute Dominates Courtroom
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) described the argument as impractical, citing examples of surnames with varying spellings. Divan said around 70 lakh people had received such notices, while Justice Bagchi observed that pronunciation differences in Bengal often lead to spelling variations in names.
The CJI noted that hearings on the matter are ongoing and that Mamata Banerjee’s petition has raised certain new points. He added that the court also wants to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the electoral rolls and thanked her for highlighting spelling errors arising from pronunciation issues.
Mamata Raises Aadhaar, Discrimination Claims
Seeking permission to speak, Mamata Banerjee said the SIR exercise was aimed at deleting names. She pointed out that women who adopted their husband’s surname after marriage were also being flagged for name mismatches. She said she was able to appear before the court due to the judges’ generosity and alleged that Bengal was being targeted, claiming several Booth Level Officers (BLOs) had died and some had died by suicide.
She further said that despite the court’s earlier directions, Aadhaar was not being accepted in Bengal during the SIR process and questioned why a similar exercise was not being conducted in Assam.
Clarifying the court’s position, the CJI said that issues related to Aadhaar and other aspects have been reserved for consideration. He added that the Election Commission had sought time to respond to the petition, and the court was inclined to grant a one-day extension.
