The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered that the Calcutta High Court can also depute civilian judges with a minimum of three years’ experience to expedite the special intensive review (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal. The court also authorized the Calcutta high court to ask judicial officials from neighboring Jharkhand and Odisha to process eight lakh claims and objections in the ongoing SIR voter rolls in West Bengal, PTI reported.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi took cognizance of a letter from the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court stating that the 250 district judges currently deployed for the SIR exercise will take around 80 days to process all claims and objections.
The Bench said, “Keeping this fact and time constraints in mind, we are of the view that further clarifications are required to increase the jurisdiction of judicial officers,” the BarandBench said.
“If the Chief Justice feels that additional human resources are required, he may approach the Chief Justices of neighboring states – Orissa and Jharkhand High Court to select serving and retired judicial officers of similar rank from those states to complete the verification work in West Bengal. The travel, board and lodging of these officers will be borne by the Election Commission of India,” the Election Commission of India said.
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The Bench also issued a clarification as to which documents can be considered valid for processing claims. The court said its previous orders, one in September 2025 allowing Aadhaar as proof of identity and another on the court’s motion to allow the Madhyamik card and password certificates, will be upheld. He clarified that all such documents, whether updated electronically or submitted physically before February 14, 2026, will be considered valid.
She mentioned that the Election Commission of India (ECI) may proceed to publish the final list on February 28, after which supplementary lists may be published on an ongoing basis.
“We deem it fit to invoke our powers under Article 142 and declare that the voters enrolled in these supplementary lists shall be deemed to be part of the final list published on February 28, 2026,” the Bench said.
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On February 9, the court directed the state of West Bengal to ensure that the officers it provided to the Election Commission of India (ECI) report for duty in accordance with the BarandBench report.
Later, the ECI claimed that it was not hiring enough qualified officers, prompting the court to order the deployment of judicial officers.
Last week, the court clarified that any direction or order issued by serving or former judicial officers will be considered as an order of the court itself and the state authorities are required to comply immediately to ensure timely completion of the Special Intensive Review (SIR) process.
Last year ECI conducted SIR in Bihar ahead of assembly elections. The process has faced legal challenges through several petitions, including those filed by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), questioning its legality. However, the ECI continued the SIR as the Supreme Court did not stay the process.
Subsequently, the ECI extended the SIR to other states and Union Territories, including West Bengal, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, prompting several petitions challenging the extension. The court reserved judgment on those matters on January 29.
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Subsequently, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee went to court challenging the ECI’s decision to conduct SIR in the state. She demanded that the elections be held on the basis of the existing electoral rolls prepared the previous year and asked for an urgent directive to stop the deletion of voters, especially those listed under the “Logical Irregularity” category.
Banerjee attended the court in person on February 4 to raise several concerns about the SIR, alleging that the ECI had singled out West Bengal ahead of this year’s assembly elections. She argued that the process, which normally takes two years, was rushed to just three months despite festivals and the harvest season.
The court directed the ECI to be cautious while issuing notices to voters about name mismatch. At the same time, she clarified that no obstacles will be allowed to obstruct the progress of the SIR.
