West Bengal SIR | CM Giving Provocative Speeches, EC Officials Facing Threats : Election Commission To Supreme Court

The Election Commission has filed a counter-affidavit before the Supreme Court raising concerns about alleged incidents of violence, intimidation and obstruction of election officials performing duties in the Special Intensive Revision process for West Bengal.The ECI has alleged reluctance on the part of state machinery to address threats against election officials and/or register FIRs on complaint of Booth Level Officers (BLOs). It has further claimed that West Bengal is the only state where election officials performing SIR duty are facing such obstruction, while the process is going on fairly smoothly in other states.Pertinently, the ECI has also accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of making fear-mongering, provocative speeches. It says that the speeches have had the effect of creating an intimidating environment among election officials so much so that some have written to the CEO to withdraw from SIR duties.ECI has made the above claims in a counter affidavit filed before the Supreme Court in response to Sanatani Sangsad's petition seeking directions for deployment of State Police officers under the ECI till final publication of electoral rolls.The affidavit cites an incident of gherao on 24.11.2025, where a mob allegedly attempted forceful entry into the office of Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, vandalized the office, locked the CEO's office from outside, and obstructed officials from discharging their duties. The ECI claims that no FIR has been registered over the incident, much less anyone apprehended. Be that as it may, the top electoral officers in the state have been designated 1 personal security officer each.The ECI highlights that CEO, West Bengal is the only electoral official in the country who has been accorded 'Y+' category security after threat assessment by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.The affidavit underlines that the draft electoral roll has identified 58 lakh enrolled voters in the state as absent, dead or shifted. About 1.51 crore notices are being issued by the EROs to ascertain status of voters. As such, cooperation of the state government at this stage is crucial.Among the incidents of threat and obstruction by politicians in the state, the ECI highlights - a statement by a sitting West Bengal Minister that he will "break the legs of Election Commission", a statement by an MLA that deletion of names during SIR would constitute "playing with fire" and public declaration by the State CM urging the public to take law into their own hands."The Hon'ble Chief Minister of the State has persistently delivered a series of public addresses that are inherently provocative, thereby endangering an atmosphere of intimidation among the election officials tasked with the preparation and revision of the electoral roll", the affidavit states.Citing a press conference of 14.01.2026, it adds, "she [CM Mamata Banerjee] is reported to have engaged in fear-mongering, disseminated misleading and erroneous information regarding the SIR process, overtly threatened and targeted election officials, and sought to incite alarm amongst the electorate".The affidavit also assails CM Mamata Banerjee's alleged identification of a Micro-Observer by name in one of her speeches. The same, ECI says, amounted to isolation and targeting of an election official performing statutory duty and subjecting him to "unwarranted pressure and intimidation".The affidavit claims that such actions/speeches have resulted in intimidation of election officials to the extent that a collective protest letter was written by 9 Micro-Observers to CEO, West Bengal, formally withdrawing from SIR duties.The ECI also seeks to highlight an incident of 15.01.2026, when the office of a Block Development Officer, where SIR work was going on, was allegedly attacked and ransacked by a group of 700 people.A bench led by CJI Surya Kant will hear the West Bengal SIR matter on Monday. Last week, the Court had sought the ECI's response of the petition filed by Mamata Banerjee seeking to hold the upcoming elections based on the 2025 rolls.The ECI's affidavit was drawn by Advs. Prateek Kumar and Kumar Utsav and was settled by Sr. Adv Dama Seshadri Naidu.Case Title: SANATANI SANGSAD v. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA | W.P.(C) No. 1216/2025

West Bengal SIR | CM Giving Provocative Speeches, EC Officials Facing Threats : Election Commission To Supreme Court

Debby Jain

Tags