Mamata Banerjee appears before Supreme Court in West Bengal SIR case

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief Mamata Banerjee appeared in person before the Supreme Court on Wednesday in Courtroom No. 1, before a Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, in connection with a plea challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

Security clearance was granted to Mamata Banerjee, a Z category protectee, to appear in person before the apex court.

A batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the SIR process and alleging large-scale exclusion of electors from the voters’ list in West Bengal was listed for hearing before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, February 4. The petitions relate to the ongoing SIR exercise being carried out in the state.

Banerjee has been demanding a halt to the revision process and is currently in New Delhi along with families from West Bengal who claim to be affected by the exercise.

The case arises from Banerjee’s Article 32 petition challenging the SIR process conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in West Bengal ahead of the state’s elections. In her plea, she alleged that the SIR exercise has caused “immense inconvenience” to people and raised procedural and legal concerns regarding its implementation.

The Chief Minister, who holds a law degree from Jogesh Chandra Choudhury College of Law, Kolkata, had briefly practiced as a lawyer, with reports indicating her last legal practice dates back to 2003.

Banerjee has also filed a case in the apex court against the Election Commission of India and the state’s Chief Electoral Officer.

The conflict between the Trinamool Congress supremo and the Election Commission escalated on Monday after she walked out of a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, accusing him of misconduct.

Along with Banerjee, Trinamool leaders Abhishek Banerjee and Kalyan Banerjee were present at the meeting, as well as 12 members of families allegedly affected by the SIR process.

Notably, Mamata Banerjee has already sent six letters to the Chief Election Commissioner raising objections to the SIR process. She sent another letter 48 hours before her scheduled meeting with the Commission in Delhi. A letter written by her to Gyanesh Kumar was made public on Saturday evening, in which she accused the Election Commission of violating provisions of the Representation of the People Act.

The Chief Minister has alleged that the SIR was imposed in violation of laws and rules, ignoring humanitarian considerations.