Poll Panel Tells Top Court Bengal Government 'Wilfully Neglected' Directions

The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court that the enumeration phase of the special intensive revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal saw several incidents of violence, intimidation and obstruction against election officials.

In its affidavit, the poll panel claimed that these incidents were opposed to the enumeration phase in other states, which proceeded "seamlessly and without incident".

It said that the 2025 electoral rolls cannot be used for the upcoming assembly polls as over 58 lakh absent, dead and shifted voters had been identified during its SIR and that around 1.51 crore notices were being issued by electoral registration officers.

According to the affidavit, there was a "pervasive reluctance" by local police authorities to register cases on complaints made by BLOs, and that some FIRs were registered only after the intervention of district election officers.

It said that the state willfully neglected to comply with EC directions on registration of FIRs and disciplinary action.

Regarding the gherao of the Chief Electoral Officer's Kolkata office on November 24 last year, the affidavit said that protestors attempted forcible entry, broke police barricades, vandalised the office, obstructed officials, locked the premises and prevented officers from entering and leaving, all of which seriously hindered official work.

It said that despite the EC's letter to Kolkata's police commissioner regarding the security breach, the protestors remained encamped in the premises for around 28 hours, and that no case was registered or any arrest made.

The affidavit underlined that following a threat assessment by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal was granted 'Y' category security and that he was the only electoral official to have such security.

According to the affidavit, the BLOs, despite the conditions, collected over 7.08 crore enumeration forms, amounting to 92.40 per cent of the total, during the enumeration phase.

It underlined that the ongoing notice phase was critical to determining eligibility and correcting errors, and that its completion without fear or intimidation was essential to the integrity of the electoral roll.

Earlier, the top court, while observing that the SIR process in the state should be transparent and not cause inconvenience, directed the EC to display the names of those on the "logical discrepancies" list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted.

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