Supreme Court asks judicial officers to be deployed for West Bengal SIR

The Supreme Court connected Friday (February 20, 2026) took an “extraordinary” determination to impact the judiciary successful the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls successful West Bengal, saying the persistent “trust deficit” betwixt the Mamata Banerjee authorities and the Election Commission (EC) has led to a “stalemate”, with clip moving out.

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant requested the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court to deploy a unit of serving and retired judicial officers of West Bengal to instrumentality implicit the quasi-judicial task of Electoral Registration Officers/Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (EROs/AEROs). They would perceive lakhs of voters who recovered themselves purged from the West Bengal draught roll, and had received proceeding notices aft the EC recovered them “unmapped” oregon detected “logical discrepancies” successful their idiosyncratic details.These discrepancies included variations successful the spelling of names, age-gaps betwixt inter-generational household members, and the fig of children.

Now, with hardly a week to spell for the claims/objections signifier to extremity connected February 28, the Supreme Court connected Friday (February 20, 2026) recovered the Trinamool Congress authorities and the EC exchanging recriminations implicit the prime and fertile of unit the State had deputed to the EC for the SIR exercise. The past hearings had seen the tribunal effort to intervene and bring the “running dispute” betwixt the 2 to an amicable end. Friday saw the tribunal compelled to determination in.

“The foremost and urgent contented revolves astir the completion of SIR successful West Bengal. An unfortunate blame-game is on. Allegations and counter-allegations are being traded betwixt 2 Constitutional functionaries, namely the democratically elected State authorities and the Election Commission of India. The SIR process is stuck,” the Supreme Court summed up the crisis.

The tribunal observed that a stalled SIR process would pb to “serious consequences” for lakhs successful West Bengal whose citizenship was nether scrutiny. The remark from the Bench astir the necessity of getting the SIR process done came adjacent arsenic the precise constitutionality of the workout successful the aviator lawsuit of Bihar is awaiting judgment.

The Bench asked the High Court Chief Justice to clasp a gathering connected February 21 with the State Election Commissioner, the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Director General of Police and the Advocate General of the State, to robust retired a program for the deployment of judicial officers, who should beryllium successful the fertile of District of Additional District Judge. Their instructions would beryllium deemed to beryllium that of the Supreme Court, and the State/district medication would person to comply without demur.

“The circumstances being extraordinary, the inclusion of judicial officers is bonzer successful nature. It whitethorn person immoderate interaction connected the pending tribunal cases,” the Supreme Court acknowledged.

The Bench projected shifting urgent cases pending with the deployed judicial officers to different courts for a play of a week oregon 10 days “by which the full process [SIR] is required to beryllium completed”.

The Supreme Court agreed with a proposition from the EC that it should beryllium allowed to people the database of voters whose names person been cleared successful the SIR process connected February 28. The remainder could beryllium included successful a supplementary roll.

“There is nary constituent having the process stuck successful 1 place. Ninety-five per cent of the enactment is over. A database of names already cleared tin beryllium published connected February 28. Names tin beryllium included successful the electoral rotation until the past day of nomination. How tin this prejudice anyone?” elder advocator Dama Seshadri Naidu, for the EC, submitted.

Senior advocator Kapil Sibal, for West Bengal, said specified a work connected February 28 whitethorn pb to a “law-and-order” situation.

But the Chief Justice said the electoral rotation of names published connected February 28 would not beryllium treated arsenic a last one. “It is an ongoing process,” the tribunal said.

The tribunal has further sought a supplementary presumption study connected allegations of 28 instances of unit successful transportation with the SIR process.

It posted the lawsuit connected March 10, 2026.