TMC MP Derek O Brien Moves Supreme Court For Extension Of West Bengal SIR Deadline; Alleges Procedural Irregularities By ECI

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Derek O'Brien has filed an application before the Supreme Court assailing procedural actions of the Election Commission during its Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

Among other things, he alleges that the ECI has been issuing instructions to Booth Level Officers and others through informal channels, like WhatsApp, thereby making impossible any audit trail of a process striking at the fundamental democratic rights of citizens.

"The ECI has, in effect, substituted its formal system of statutory communication with what is being informally described at the field level as a “WhatsApp Commission”, wherein critical instructions, warnings and consequences of alleged non-compliance are communicated exclusively through messaging platforms...This will in fact have the effect of absolving decision-makers of accountability...several of the aforesaid informal instructions are not only inconsistent with the formal instructions issued by the ECI, but are also wholly dehors the Constitution and the statutory scheme governing electoral roll revision."

It is further claimed that the ECI is restraining Booth Level Agents from assisting voters during hearings (despite the Supreme Court's orders to the contrary in Bihar SIR matter) and is using an undisclosed software for "mapping" of voters with the 2002 roll.

"It is submitted that the memo dated 29.12.2025 issued by the Additional CEO to all DEOs categorically admits that the exercise of digitising the 2002 electoral roll by mechanically converting old scanned PDF (Portable Document Format) records into CSV (Comma Separated Values) format has resulted in widespread and systemic errors in voter data mapping. The said digitisation was undertaken without adequate validation, field-level verification or supervision by Booth Level Officers. It is further submitted that no such process was adopted in the State of Bihar, where the digitisation exercise was carried out under direct supervision of BLOs, thereby ensuring accuracy and data integrity."

The petitioner also challenges ECI's "logical discrepancy" categorization of voters as unique to West Bengal SIR process, which is likely to entail issuance of notices to 1.36 crore voters, without any written order or guideline. This category arises from alleged mismatches or anomalies in voter details, including spelling variations, inconsistencies in parental or age information, and other data irregularities identified by system-generated algorithms, which are being used as grounds for summoning voters for quasi-judicial hearings.

"It is submitted that the Election Commission of India has not clarified whether hearing notices will be issued to all electors placed on the so-called “logical discrepancy” list and the details of such people with alleged discrepancies has also not been published. The absence of a transparent, written protocol governing issuance of notices renders the process opaque, arbitrary and incapable of judicial scrutiny, thereby undermining the constitutional obligation of the ECI to act fairly, transparently and in accordance with law."

He further points to technical glitches in the AERO App, leading to automatic notices to voters and bypassing of procedural safeguards through human oversight. "Incessant and untested daily software updates to the application have paralysed the functioning of Booth Level Officers, obstructed completion of statutory tasks, and rendered the revision process unstable, unpredictable and prone to error."

Notably, it is also alleged that ECI is arbitrarily rejecting valid documents of eligible voters during hearings and the CEO, West Bengal has engaged a private vendor with with a "chequered history" to carry out a "Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices" Survey for the state.

"This self-same vendor has in fact been investigated by the CBI in connection with a recruitment scam in the Border Security Force. It is shocking that the Election Commission considers it fit to hand over voters' personal demographic and other data to a private agency", the plea states.

The petitioner further says that there has been mass deletion of voters without any notice or hearing. "The draft Electoral Roll was published in West Bengal on 16.12.2025, and 58,20,898 names were deleted, without any notice or personal hearing. There has been a precipitous decline from 7,66,37,529 voters after the Special Summary Revision of 2025 to 7,08,16,616 voters on the draft Electoral Roll."

The petition also points to hardships being caused to the elderly, persons with disability and migrant electors, as well as, certain "confusion" perpetuated by ECI. "By memo dated 29.12.2025 [Annexure E], the ECI has directed that notices issued prior thereto by the system may not be accurate and BLOs are directed to inform electors not to attend hearings in some cases. Such inconsistent and mismanaged system has wreaked havoc at the ground level and eroded public confidence in the whole process", it states.

The reliefs sought include:

- That the ECI extend the deadline for submitting claims and objections (currently fixed as 15.01.2026) and postpone final roll publication till appropriate safeguards are in place;

- That the ECI stop issuing formal instructions through channels like WhatsApp and declare all such instructions issued so far as "illegal";

- That the ECI ensure no voter is left out because of erroneous "mapping" on its part and do away with third-party involvement for KAP surveys, etc.

- That the ECI do away with the extra-statutory category described by it as "logical discrepancy" and not exclude/delete voters based thereon;

- That the ECI allow Booth Level Agents to assist voters during hearings, in filing claims/objections, etc.;

- That the ECI permit virtual hearings/representation through family member for migrant voters and extend doorstep or telephonic/digital verification to all senior citizens above 60 years with medical conditions;

- That the ECI accept Permanent Residence Certificates, Panchayat Residence Certificates, Family Registers during the verification process.

Case Title: DEREK O BRIEN v. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA, W.P.(C) No. 737/2025