Opinion | SC Order On SIR Strengthens Case For West Bengal Elections Under Central Rule

Only then can people come out to vote without fear, and the booths be sanitised from being taken over by TMC goons

An “extraordinary order" because of “extraordinary circumstances". That is how the Supreme Court on Friday described its own decision on the West Bengal special intensive revision (SIR) of voters’ rolls.

It told the Calcutta High Court to appoint judicial officers for helping the state carry out the SIR exercise, noting the unfortunate blame game between the Mamata Banerjee-led state government and the Election Commission.

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The SC asked the high court to free up serving and even former judicial officers in the rank of district judge for SIR work. It had unusually harsh words for the TMC government.

“A situation is being created where judicial officers have to intervene. We were expecting cooperation by the state. Is this the level of communication from the state? For the February 9 order, you responded on February 17. You are saying the state government is examining the officers. Examining, how? You should have written that 8,500 officers are sent," Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said. “We are not micro-observers. We are disappointed to see this. We thought states would cooperate. We don’t want private explanations."

The scale of pending scrutiny is astounding. Right now, 4,66,323 documents are pending with district magistrates (DM) for verification and 30 lakh documents are pending with EROs/AEROs for re-verification. Decisions are still to be taken on documents of 20 lakh voters.

The BJP has alleged that certain district magistrates and sub-divisional officers were, in a premeditated manner, delaying scrutiny of documents and keeping original documents pending till the last minute in the hope that they would accept all of them without scrutiny.

All this now comes under judicial review and supervision.

The final voters’ list — wherever the process is complete — will be published on February 28. The court has permitted the Election Commission to publish supplementary lists thereafter.

Collectors and superintendents of police have been placed under deemed deputation to give full logistical support and ensure the court’s directions are followed. The court has asked the director general of police to file a supplementary affidavit detailing steps taken on complaints of threats to SIR officers.

The apex court’s lashing of the Mamata Banerjee government brings one to a larger question: Should the West Bengal assembly election take place under the TMC regime?

Case after case, Mamata Banerjee has proved beyond doubt that her government and party cannot be trusted with fair governance or even basic minimum respect for the law of the land.

Take the Enforcement Directorate (ED) vs West Bengal government I-PAC raids case in January, for instance. The Supreme Court stayed FIRs filed by West Bengal police against ED officials during raids on I-PAC offices linked to the coal scam, slamming the TMC government and chief minister Mamata Banerjee for obstruction of a central investigation. The court issued notices to the state highlighting concerns over “lawlessness".

In April 2024, the Supreme Court upheld the Calcutta High Court’s order in the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) recruitment scam, canceling 25,753 illegal appointments in state schools because of fraud and corruption under the TMC regime. This led to massive job losses and a debilitating political crisis.

In the BSF jurisdiction expansion case of November 2025, the Calcutta High Court directed the West Bengal government to hand over border land to the BSF by March 31, brushing aside TMC’s opposition to the BSF’s powers in the state. The order exposed Mamata Banerjee’s stubborn resistance to cooperate on national security.

Again, in the Sandeshkhali violence and land grab case of February 2024, the Calcutta High Court transferred the investigation into allegations of sexual violence, land grab, and extortion to the CBI. It accused the TMC government of shielding criminals like Shahjahan Sheikh and failing to protect victims.

But the most brazen and brutal abuse of power was the 2021 post-poll violence Case. The Supreme Court in 2023 upheld Calcutta High Court’s order for a CBI investigation into the post-election massacre against opposition workers, pulling up the TMC government for inadequate response, biased policing, and failure to ensure justice. It mandated compensation and protection for victims.

With so many burning instances of law and order collapse, West Bengal is a fit case to be brought under central rule before the 2026 assembly elections. Only then can people come out to vote without fear, and the booths be sanitised from being taken over by TMC goons.

The Opposition in West Bengal is fighting against a loosely held collective of criminal syndicates. It is a game — if played under the TMC government — in which the brutal players and the biased referee play on the same side.

© News18