TMC hails SC order on SIR, calls it rebuke to EC’s ‘arbitrary approach’

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Monday welcomed the Supreme Court’s order on SIR (Special Intensive Revision) of electoral rolls, claiming it delivered a “stinging rebuke” to what it described as the Election Commission’s arbitrary approach.

The apex court made it clear that it would not allow any impediment to the completion of the SIR exercise and directed the West Bengal Director General of Police to file an affidavit on the EC (Election Commission)’s allegation that its notices were burnt by miscreants. The court also took note of the State government providing a list of 8,505 Group B officers to assist the SIR process.

Observing that the EC could scrutinise the bio-data and work experience of these officials, the court said the poll panel may shortlist officers equivalent to the number of micro-observers already engaged. It further clarified that micro-observers could only assist Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs), with final authority resting solely with EROs.

Reacting to the order, the TMC said in a post on X that the ruling “delivered a stinging blow to ECISVEEP’s arbitrary overreach”. The party claimed that the court had unequivocally reaffirmed that micro-observers had no decision-making powers and could not supersede statutory authorities under election law.

“Further, the court has directed that 8,505 Bengal officials be tagged to EROs to support the SIR process. This blows apart the EC’s unilateral move to parachute micro-observers exclusively into Bengal to influence, intimidate and manipulate the process,” the TMC said.

The party also alleged that attempts to provide “back-end access” to voter databases to remove genuine voters had been halted by the Supreme Court. It termed the order a “big victory for democracy and a big victory for Bengal”.

TMC state general secretary Kunal Ghosh said the court had acknowledged concerns raised by party chairperson Mamata Banerjee during the hearing last week, particularly on the role of micro-observers. He described the ruling as a defeat for those who believed institutions could be “weaponised against the people”.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra said the order made it clear that micro-observers had no statutory authority. “Their only duty is to observe, not accept or reject. They will be held accountable if they exceed their brief,” she said in a post on X.

Moitra said that since the official notification of SIR in October 2025, West Bengal had deployed more than 1 lakh officials for the exercise, including over 80,500 booth-level officers (BLOs), more than 8,500 AEROs and 294 EROs. She added that an indicative district-wise list of Group B officers had been prepared and shared with the EC in line with the Supreme Court’s observations.

The BJP, however, read the order differently. BJP state president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya said the ruling was a “stunning blow” to what he alleged was a TMC conspiracy to stall the SIR process. He claimed the party wanted to retain “ghost, bogus and unauthorised voters” on electoral rolls to secure electoral advantage.

“Mamata Banerjee’s game is up. Despite public bravado, there is palpable panic and unease in Trinamool,” Bhattacharya said, adding that elections would no longer be won “as in the past”.

Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari said the Supreme Court had rejected what he termed the TMC’s attempt to delay the SIR exercise. He claimed the order would prevent the State administration from acting under political pressure.

“So far, any harassment caused to the public due to the SIR exercise was because of non-cooperation by the TMC regime. The Supreme Court has foiled this game plan,” Adhikari said.

The EC has not issued a detailed response to the competing political claims so far.