“Why only Bengal”: Mamata Banerjee disputes the Supreme Court’s amendment of the voter list

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, personally appeared before the Supreme Court on Wednesday to argue her petition contesting the State’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

She told the court that “justice is crying behind closed doors” and urged immediate action before the Assembly elections. After submitting an interlocutory application for authorization to offer arguments in her own case, Banerjee, a qualified advocate, is representing herself. Her suit aims to overturn all SIR-related guidelines and orders that the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued on June 24, 2025, and October 27, 2025.

A group of petitions on the SIR exercise, including those filed by Banerjee, Mostari Banu, and Trinamool Congress MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, are being heard by a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi. Mamata Banerjee made an impassioned plea in front of the bench, claiming that the revision process was being conducted in a way that harmed regular voters.

“Justice is crying behind closed doors,” Banerjee told the Chief Justice of India while arguing against the SIR exercise.

She questioned the documentation requirements under the revision drive and alleged that West Bengal was being singled out close to elections.

“They say with Aadhaar we want another certificate. In other states domicile, caste certificate etc — nothing is allowed. They only targeted West Bengal on the eve of election,” Banerjee submitted in court.

She also attacked the timeline of the exercise, telling the Bench that the ECI was attempting to compress a long process into a short window. “They wanted to do something in 2 months which takes 2 years. When people are out they did it,” she said.

Referring to the pressure on election staff, Banerjee added, “BLOs committed suicide and they blamed the election officials. It is because of the harassment. West Bengal is targeted — why not Assam?”