The Election Fee has filed a counter-affidavit earlier than the Supreme Court docket elevating considerations about alleged incidents of violence, intimidation and obstruction of election officers performing duties within the Particular Intensive Revision course of for West Bengal.
The ECI has alleged reluctance on the a part of state equipment to handle threats in opposition to election officers and/or register FIRs on grievance of Sales space Degree Officers (BLOs). It has additional claimed that West Bengal is the one state the place election officers performing SIR responsibility are going through such obstruction, whereas the method is occurring pretty easily in different states.
Pertinently, the ECI has additionally accused West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee of creating fear-mongering, provocative speeches. It says that the speeches have had the impact of making an intimidating surroundings amongst election officers a lot in order that some have written to the CEO to withdraw from SIR duties.
ECI has made the above claims in a counter affidavit filed earlier than the Supreme Court docket in response to Sanatani Sangsad’s petition in search of instructions for deployment of State Law enforcement officials underneath the ECI until last publication of electoral rolls.
The affidavit cites an incident of gherao on 24.11.2025, the place a mob allegedly tried forceful entry into the workplace of Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, vandalized the workplace, locked the CEO’s workplace from exterior, and obstructed officers from discharging their duties. The ECI claims that no FIR has been registered over the incident, a lot much less anybody apprehended. Be that as it might, the highest electoral officers within the state have been designated 1 private safety officer every.
The ECI highlights that CEO, West Bengal is the one electoral official within the nation who has been accorded ‘Y+’ class safety after menace evaluation by the Ministry of House Affairs, Authorities of India.
The affidavit underlines that the draft electoral roll has recognized 58 lakh enrolled voters within the state as absent, lifeless or shifted. About 1.51 crore notices are being issued by the EROs to establish standing of voters. As such, cooperation of the state authorities at this stage is essential.
Among the many incidents of menace and obstruction by politicians within the state, the ECI highlights – an announcement by a sitting West Bengal Minister that he’ll “break the legs of Election Fee”, an announcement by an MLA that deletion of names throughout SIR would represent “taking part in with hearth” and public declaration by the State CM urging the general public to take legislation into their very own fingers.
“The Hon’ble Chief Minister of the State has persistently delivered a collection of public addresses which might be inherently provocative, thereby endangering an environment of intimidation among the many election officers tasked with the preparation and revision of the electoral roll”, the affidavit states.
Citing a press convention of 14.01.2026, it provides, “she [CM Mamata Banerjee] is reported to have engaged in fear-mongering, disseminated deceptive and faulty info relating to the SIR course of, overtly threatened and focused election officers, and sought to incite alarm amongst the citizens”.
The affidavit additionally assails CM Mamata Banerjee’s alleged identification of a Micro-Observer by identify in one in all her speeches. The identical, ECI says, amounted to isolation and focusing on of an election official performing statutory responsibility and subjecting him to “unwarranted stress and intimidation”.
The affidavit claims that such actions/speeches have resulted in intimidation of election officers to the extent {that a} collective protest letter was written by 9 Micro-Observers to CEO, West Bengal, formally withdrawing from SIR duties.
The ECI additionally seeks to spotlight an incident of 15.01.2026, when the workplace of a Block Growth Officer, the place SIR work was occurring, was allegedly attacked and ransacked by a gaggle of 700 individuals.
A bench led by CJI Surya Kant will hear the West Bengal SIR matter on Monday. Final week, the Court docket had sought the ECI’s response of the petition filed by Mamata Banerjee in search of to carry the upcoming elections based mostly on the 2025 rolls.
The ECI’s affidavit was drawn by Advs. Prateek Kumar and Kumar Itsav and was settled by Sr. Adv Dama Seshadri Naidu.
Case Title: SANATANI SANGSAD v. ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA | W.P.(C) No. 1216/2025
