Supreme Court issues notice to Election Commission on petition against Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal; what Mamata Banerjee told court?
The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Election Commission and the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal on a petition filed by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll in the state.
The next hearing in the case will be on February 9. Mamata Banerjee argued in court that the SIR is not an inclusive process but a divisive one. She told the court, "Please save our democracy."
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing Mamata Banerjee, told the court that a large number of voters' lists are yet to be revised and there is almost no time left to take corrective measures.
Elections are scheduled to be held in West Bengal in April-May this year.
Mamata Banerjee told the Supreme Court, "We are not getting justice anywhere. I have written several letters to the Chief Election Commissioner."
Mamata Banerjee sought five minutes from the Supreme Court to explain the "problems and irregularities" faced by common people due to the revision of the electoral roll in the state.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant said that electoral roll revision is also linked to migration. He said that every problem has a solution and we must ensure that every person with complete documents has their name on the list.
Mamata Banerjee said that the Election Commission is not accepting Aadhaar cards and is demanding other documents from voters. She said that West Bengal is being targeted. She asked why the same criteria are not being applied to Assam? She alleged that many living people have also been declared dead by the Election Commission during the SIR process.