TMC MP moves SC for extension of Bengal SIR deadline
Times of India | 7 January 2026
Kolkata: Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien filed an application in the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking extension of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) deadline for submitting claims and objections as well as postponement of the publication of final rolls in Bengal till "appropriate safeguards" are in place. The petition also highlighted several "procedural lapses" by the Election Commission, leading to the deletion of over 58 lakh names.
The application sought that ECI should stop informal ways of communicating "critical instructions, warnings and consequences of alleged non-compliance".
Raising questions about the confusion over whether notices would be issued to all electors placed on the "logical discrepancy" list, it said: "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."
The petition said 58,20,898 names were deleted "without any notice or personal hearing" in the draft rolls, which was published on Dec 16. "There was a precipitous decline from 7,66,37,529 voters after the Special Summary Revision of 2025 to 7,08,16,616 voters in the draft roll," it stated.
The petition pointed to technical glitches in the AERO App leading to automatic notices to voters. It also urged that BLAs be allowed to assist voters during hearings. O'Brien's plea sought to ensure that no voter is left out because of erroneous "mapping. It also claimed that a private vendor with a "chequered history" had been engaged for the process.
The application said booth-level agents were restrained from assisting voters during hearings and questioned the use of an undisclosed software for "mapping" voters with the 2002 roll. It claimed that a memo dated Dec 29 from the additional CEO to all DEOs "admits that the exercise of digitising the 2002 electoral roll by mechanically converting old scanned PDF records into CSV (Comma Separated Values) format resulted in widespread and systemic errors in voter data mapping".
The plea also sought that ECI should accept documents like Permanent Residence Certificates, Panchayat Residence Certificates and Family Registers during verification.
The petition also pointed out the hardships being caused to the elderly, persons with disabilities and migrant electors. It urged the ECI to permit virtual hearings or representation through family members for migrant voters.