Overview
- The Calcutta High Court ordered the Election Commission to file by November 19 an affidavit explaining why the Special Intensive Revision in West Bengal uses the 2002 electoral roll as its base.
- Petitioners in the Bengal PIL asked that the 2025 roll be used instead and alleged threats to Booth Level Officers, with the bench noting security for state employees is the government’s responsibility.
- A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi will hear the challenges on November 11, including a plea by West Bengal represented by Kapil Sibal and submissions from ADR raising concerns over Aadhaar acceptance.
- The DMK’s Supreme Court petition contests the SIR as ultra vires, warns it functions like a de facto NRC through citizenship-verification demands, and flags restrictive documents, subjective deletions, and compressed timelines.
- The ECI told courts the exercise follows the framework of the last SIR conducted in 2002, that voters already on the rolls need not submit fresh documents, and that BLOs are conducting door-to-door verification.