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Kolkata: In November 2025, Mostari Banu, a homemaker from Murshidabad’s Bhagwangola constituency in West Bengal, filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state. Banu was the first to file the petition against the exercise, and the case came into the limelight after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in the court to argue against the SIR.

In staggering irony, her name is currently “under adjudication” as per the final list published by the ECI. Mostari’s is among millions of under-adjudication cases in West Bengal, where everyone from a World Cup-winning cricketer to the very judicial officers currently verifying documents, from the chief secretary to ministers, and even a close relative of the Supreme Court judge presiding over the SIR case currently find their names under a cloud.

Mostari Banu with her husband (left) and CPI(M)’s Mohammad Selim. Photo: By arrangement.

Attending an all-night protest organised by the Left parties outside the Chief Electoral Officer’s offices in Kolkata, Banu said, “I was the first one to file the petition. We are on dharna to protect people’s rights. From the Supreme Court to........

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