The Congress party of West Bengal has moved the Supreme Court against the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state. The party is asking the court to step in and look at the entire process being used to update the lists of eligible voters in West Bengal.
? Big Move in Bengal Politics!
— Indian Law and Justice (@legalworld0) November 10, 2025
West Bengal Congress has gone straight to the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission’s new voter list revision (SIR).
They claim the move could delete lakhs of genuine voters and call it a threat to free & fair elections. ?️
TMC… pic.twitter.com/kvhwwLKGhu
The matter was mentioned on Monday, 10th November, before a bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi, with a request to list the case for hearing on Tuesday, 11th November. The counsel for the West Bengal Congress said that similar petitions connected to the SIR process in other states are already scheduled for hearing the next day and requested that this case be tagged with them.
Justice Surya Kant initially said that their bench was handling the Bihar SIR matter, and whether the West Bengal case could be taken up or not would depend on the Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai’s decision. However, when the counsel informed the court that a petition related to the Tamil Nadu SIR was also listed before the same bench, Justice Kant responded, “Alright, we will find out.”
A separate public interest litigation (PIL) concerning the SIR process in West Bengal is already before the Calcutta High Court. The petitioner in that case has requested an extension of the SIR deadline and has asked that the process be carried out under court supervision. Recently, the High Court directed the Election Commission to file an affidavit explaining how the SIR is being implemented across the state.
Apart from West Bengal, similar SIR matters from Bihar and Tamil Nadu are also before the Supreme Court. The apex court is expected to hear the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s (DMK) petition against the SIR process in Tamil Nadu on 11th November, after an urgent listing was approved by CJI Gavai last Friday, 8th November.
Back in August, when the Supreme Court was dealing with the Bihar SIR case, the bench was informed about a statement by the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal stating that the state was ready to begin SIR without consulting the state government. The court, however, did not take up the issue at that time, saying that there was no immediate concern.
During that earlier hearing, a counsel mentioned that three women had attempted self-immolation outside the Calcutta High Court over fears of being deleted from the voter list. Responding to this, Justice Kant said that the court couldn’t go into individual cases but assured that it would examine the larger principles governing the SIR process, which would apply to all states with adjustments for local conditions.
The Supreme Court’s observation once again draws attention to the growing concerns raised by political parties and citizens over the voter roll revision process carried out under SIR across multiple states. The matter has political significance, especially in West Bengal, where Assembly elections are scheduled for 2026.
