Ready to make available 8,505 Group B officers for SIR exercise: Bengal to EC

The West Bengal government has informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) that it is prepared to make available 8,505 Group B officers from the state administration and its instrumentalities to assist in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, sources said.

The development assumes significance as counsel for the poll panel had earlier told the Supreme Court that the state had provided only a limited number of senior officers for overseeing the exercise.

A three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and N.V. Anjaria is scheduled to hear on Monday a batch of petitions, including one filed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee, challenging aspects of the SIR process in West Bengal.

Sources said Banerjee, who on 4 February became the first serving chief minister to argue her case in the apex court, may again appear before the Bench during the hearing.

According to officials, the state government has conveyed to the ECI its readiness to deploy 8,505 Group B officers to support the revision exercise. This comes after senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the ECI, told the Supreme Court on 4 February that West Bengal had provided the services of only 80 Grade II officers, such as sub-divisional magistrates, to oversee the process.

Dwivedi had also claimed that the state relied largely on lower-ranked employees, including Anganwadi workers, for the SIR exercise. Banerjee, however, strongly contested the allegation, maintaining that the state had supplied all personnel sought by the poll panel.

Arguing before the court, the chief minister urged judicial intervention to “save democracy”, alleging that West Bengal was being unfairly targeted and that voters were being subjected to harassment.

Taking note of her petition, the Supreme Court observed that genuine voters must not be excluded from electoral rolls. The Bench issued notices to the Election Commission and the chief electoral officer of West Bengal, seeking their responses by 9 February.

The court also directed the poll panel to instruct booth-level officers and electoral roll officers to act with sensitivity while issuing notices, particularly in cases involving minor discrepancies such as spelling errors.

Earlier, on 19 January, the Supreme Court had passed a series of directions emphasising that the SIR process in West Bengal must be transparent and should not cause inconvenience to voters.

With PTI inputs