SC seeks response from Election Commission on TMC's allegation that 5.8 million names were removed from voter list in Bengal.

News Topical, Digital Desk : TMC MP Dola Sen has approached the Supreme Court, accusing the Election Commission of arbitrariness. On Monday, the court sought a response from the Commission within a week, calling the matter a major challenge to transparency.

Dola Sen's petition alleges that the Election Commission refused to accept valid documents during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), resulting in the deletion of millions of names from the draft voter list. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal argued in court that the Election Commission is issuing instructions to various election officials via WhatsApp messages or video conferencing, which is wrong.

Questions on the working style of the Election Commission

Sibal said that all such instructions should be in writing to ensure transparency in the voter list preparation process. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked the Election Commission's lawyer, Eklavya Dwivedi, to respond to the petition by Saturday. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for January 19. Sen has sought an extension of the January 15 deadline for filing claims and objections.

Details of removed names

The petitioner demanded that documents such as Permanent Residence Certificates, Panchayat Residence Certificates, and Family Registers be considered valid for inclusion in the voter list. The draft electoral roll for Bengal was published on December 16, removing 5,820,898 names. Sen alleges that these names were removed without notice or a personal hearing.

The total number of voters after the Special Intensive Revision of 2025 was 76,637,529, which has now come down to 70,816,616. The petition states that contrary to the SOP, in several assembly constituencies, the names of voters in the Absentee, Shifted, Dead and Duplicate (ASDD) category are being centrally processed and marked as 'Disposed - Form 7'.

Sen fears that the Bengal Assembly elections could be announced immediately after the final roll is released. Therefore, he urged the Supreme Court to direct the Election Commission to streamline the voter list revision process and ensure all eligible voters are included.

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