‘SC Has Not Settled SIR Legality’: Abhishek Banerjee Demands Fresh Bengal Elections in Six Months

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Abhishek Banerjee has urged the Supreme Court to restore the previous elected government in West Bengal and direct fresh elections within six months, questioning the legitimacy of the present government following the court’s observations on voter-list revision.

The Diamond Harbour MP made the demand after the apex court clarified that it had not yet delivered a final verdict on the legality of the Election Commission’s “logical discrepancy” category used during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Reacting to the observations, Banerjee questioned how a government formed through an allegedly manipulated electoral mandate could claim democratic legitimacy. He argued that the present state government should be treated as an interim administration until a fair electoral process is ensured.

“The SC must restore the previous elected government in West Bengal and direct fresh elections within six months,” Banerjee said in a social media post. He also demanded that every eligible voter wrongfully excluded from the electoral rolls be reinstated.

The Supreme Court made the observations while hearing a petition alleging a lack of transparency in notices issued to voters during the ongoing SIR exercise in Delhi. Senior advocate D S Naidu, representing the Election Commission, submitted that the court had examined the different stages of the revision process and upheld its validity.

However, Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that the court’s decision in the Bihar SIR case did not settle every legal question arising from the exercise elsewhere.

The bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and also comprising Justice V Mohana, noted that the “logical discrepancy” category had not initially been used in Bihar. Its inclusion in West Bengal had been permitted as an interim arrangement.

The court stressed that it had not finally adjudicated the legality of the exercise, leaving the issue open for further consideration.