Explained | The Reliefs Mamata Banerjee Has Sought in Her Supreme Court Petitions on SIR

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has approached the Supreme Court seeking a series of directions against the Election Commission of India (ECI) over its ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.

In her petition, Banerjee has urged the court to annul the ECI notifications issued on June 24, 2025 and October 27, 2025, which form the basis of the current SIR exercise. She has also requested that the 18th West Bengal Legislative Assembly elections, scheduled for 2026, be conducted using the existing 2025 electoral rolls.

A key concern raised in the plea relates to cases flagged under the “Logical Discrepancy” category, particularly those involving minor name mismatches or spelling variations. Banerjee has sought directions to ensure that such cases are not subjected to hearings and that necessary corrections be carried out automatically using available official records. She has also asked the ECI to withdraw hearing notices already issued in such cases and formally inform the affected voters.

The Chief Minister has further demanded greater transparency in the revision process, including the online publication of names of voters categorised as ‘unmapped’ or flagged for logical discrepancies on the websites of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) and District Election Officers (DEOs). She has also sought directions to ensure that no voter marked under the logical discrepancy category is removed from the rolls, especially those who have been successfully linked to the 2002 electoral rolls and have submitted all required documents.

In her plea, Banerjee has pressed for Aadhaar cards to be accepted as valid proof of identity in logical discrepancy cases, without insistence on additional documentation. She has also sought publication of the names of all voters against whom Form-7 has been submitted, along with a restriction on further bulk submissions of such forms.
Addressing administrative delays, the petition calls for allowing Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) to decide cases locally if inter-state document verification remains pending with District Election Officers for more than five days.
The Chief Minister has also challenged the deployment of Micro-Observers in the state, seeking their complete withdrawal. Alternatively, she has requested that Micro-Observers be barred from exercising any statutory authority, including participation in hearings or verification of the work carried out by EROs and AEROs.

Additionally, the petition urges the Election Commission to accept all documents issued by competent state authorities during voter verification. It also seeks strict adherence to the ECI’s own procedures for resolving cases through local or field inquiries, as laid down in its order dated June 24, 2025, along with necessary technical changes to the ERO and AERO digital portals to support such processes.​