On the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists going on in Bengal and Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court has asked the petitioners why they are so apprehensive about the exercise. The court has issued a notice to the Election Commission on the petitions filed against Bengal and Tamil Nadu SIR.

According to the report of Bar and Bench, on Tuesday (November 11, 2025), the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing six petitions filed against the ongoing SIR in Bengal and Tamil Nadu. The ruling party in the state, DMK Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), CPIM and Congress have filed petitions regarding SIR taking place in Tamil Nadu, while Congress filed the petition for Bengal.

The court has sent a notice to the Election Commission on the petitions and sought its response. The court has also asked the petitioners why they are so apprehensive about the SIR. The court told the petitioners that if they were satisfied with the reply, they would cancel the exercise. Earlier, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, on behalf of DMK, argued in the court that this process is being done in a hurry, whereas earlier it used to take three years to revise the voter list. This is the first time that this process is happening so quickly.

Kapil Sibal said that the Election Commission is saying that the process will be done in a month. He said that the ultimate thing will be that lakhs of people will be removed from the voter list. On this the court said, ‘You have filed your counter. We are issuing notice. If we are satisfied, we will cancel the process. We are issuing notices on all writ petitions. Hearing is already going on in the court regarding Bihar SIR.

SIR was first started from Bihar in the month of June, against which many people including Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Federation for Indian Women filed petitions. Although the process has been completed in Bihar, the matter is still pending in the court.

Trinamool Congress on Friday (31 October 2025) warned that legal action and mass agitation would be taken if the names of genuine voters were removed during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the voter list in West Bengal. Addressing around 15,000 party officials from Bengal, Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee accused the BJP of using the process to quietly rig the upcoming elections.

Preparations for rigging at the behest of BJP: TMC

According to sources, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that the SIR announced on October 27 is being done at the behest of BJP to manipulate the voter list before the upcoming assembly elections.

TMC sources quoted Abhishek Banerjee as saying, “As you all know, SIR was announced in Bengal on October 27 on the instructions of BJP. After the announcement of voter list revision in Bihar, we had said that this means silent rigging. Trinamool has opposed it in Parliament, court and on the streets and we will continue to do so.

Giving a stern warning earlier this week, Abhishek Banerjee had said, “If the name of even one genuine voter is removed from the voter list, one lakh people of Bengal will stage a protest outside the Election Commission office in New Delhi.”

‘An atmosphere of fear in Bengal due to SIR process’

State President Subrata Bakshi also addressed this meeting called by Abhishek Banerjee on Friday. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the party’s strategy to monitor the voter list revision. District, block and booth level Trinamool officials were among those invited.

Addressing the meeting, Abhishek Banerjee alleged that due to the SIR process an atmosphere of fear has been created in the entire state. The leaders present at the meeting quoted Abhishek Banerjee as saying, “We will not remain silent if the names of real voters are removed.” We will draw the attention of the court and also start a big movement in Delhi to ensure justice.

Abhishek Banerjee asked the workers to be alert

Party sources said that Abhishek Banerjee directed all the leaders to be alert and claimed that the names of thousands of real voters have been found missing in many areas, especially in North 24 Parganas, Nadia and Cooch Behar districts.

A senior Trinamool official said, “Regarding the voter list irregularities that we had exposed in Wednesday’s press conference, Abhishek Banerjee said that we will also draw the attention of the court. This is not just a political issue, but a democratic issue.

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