Supreme Court directs ECI to show list of voters flagged under ‘logical discrepancies’

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to display the names of voters placed under the “logical discrepancies” category during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

A three-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant passed the order while hearing petitions that raised concerns over how the SIR exercise is being carried out in the state.

The court said the ECI has already sent notices to people listed under the “logical discrepancies” category. To help such voters, the court directed that their names should be displayed at Gram Panchayat Bhavans, Block Offices and Ward Offices.

The Supreme Court also asked the West Bengal government to provide enough staff to the ECI and the State Election Commission so that documents and objections can be checked properly. It said the hearing process should not be affected and that the ECI or the state government must issue directions to deploy adequate manpower.

Voters who may be affected have been allowed to submit their documents before authorised officers. The court said that people who have not yet filed their claims or objections must do so within 10 days.

As per the court’s directions, notices for submitting documents or objections can be submitted at Gram Panchayat Bhavans. The ECI has been asked to issue clear instructions to make the process easier for voters.

The Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal has been told to ensure that there is no law and order problem and that the entire exercise is completed smoothly.

The court also said that if an objection is found to be satisfactory, the voter should be given a hearing as per the ECI’s Standard Operating Procedure. The hearing may be held at the time of submitting the objection itself.

The Election Roll Officers’ Network (ERONET) portal had flagged more than 1.2 crore voter names under the “logical discrepancy” category, which led to fresh controversy over the SIR process in the state.

West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee criticised the category, calling “logical discrepancies” a “dubious category”. Accusing the ECI of working for the BJP, she said, “Acting at the behest of the BJP, ECI carried out SIR in Bengal in a reckless and ill-planned manner, resulting in the deletion of nearly 58 lakh names from the electoral rolls. When even this massive purge failed to satisfy the BJP’s political objectives, a new and dubious category called ‘logical discrepancies’ was invented, forcing 1.36 crore voters to face hearings without the Commission even disclosing the complete list of names.”

The ERONET portal also flagged a “logical discrepancy” in the case of Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. The West Bengal CEO said the issue arose because of a difference between Professor Sen’s details as a voter in West Bengal’s Birbhum district’s Bolpur assembly constituency and his mother Amita Sen’s age, which was shown as less than 15 years.

The last date to file claims and objections — including new voter additions through Form 6, deletions through Form 7, and corrections through Form 8 — was extended from January 15 to January 19, 2026, to give voters more time. Hearings on these cases will continue till February 7, 2026.

The final electoral roll for West Bengal will be published on February 14, 2026.

(With inputs from ANI)