Two judicial officers in Cooch Behar, including a woman judge, have received threatening letters sent on the official letterhead of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) district president, triggering widespread concern and immediate intervention by the Calcutta High Court.
According to reports, the letters were sent in connection with the judges’ work on the pending list under the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a process to verify and update voter lists ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. The letter expressed displeasure over the manner in which certain names were being dealt with in the supplementary list and allegedly contained an implied threat, with a warning that they will “look at” at the judges, a common phrase use to threaten in Bengali.
Two similar letters were sent to both the judges individually by the district Trinamool Congress president Avijit De Bhowmik, alleging that the judges were deleting names in high numbers.
“The language of the letters was perceived as threatening the judicial officers. The judicial officers handed over the letters to the district judge with a request to look into the matter. The judiciary considered it to be unprecedented,” said a source who saw the letters.,
The two judicial officers subsequently wrote to the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court, Justice Sujoy Pal, informing him of the letters and expressing concerns for their safety. In response, the Chief Justice has directed the Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal to take immediate and appropriate action. The High Court has also instructed that necessary security measures be provided to the affected judicial officers.
Notably, the TMC Cooch Behar district president Avijit De Bhowmik is also the party’s candidate for the Cooch Behar Dakshin (South) Assembly constituency. However, in a statement to the media, Bhowmik denied issuing any threat, describing the communication as a mere “request” regarding the arbitrary inclusion of names in the voter list. He added that if any wording had caused offence, he apologised.
Bhowmick said, “I sincerely apologise for any inaccuracies or errors in wording the letters.”
However, the matter has been taken seriously by judicial and election commission authorities, and they are expected to initiate proper action against the TMC leader.
