NEW DELHI – In an unprecedented move, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in person before the Supreme Court on the morning of Wednesday, February 4, 2026. Seated in Courtroom 1, Banerjee is seeking to personally argue a high-stakes petition challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

If her interlocutory application is granted, she will become the first sitting Chief Minister in Indian history to argue her own case before the apex court.

The Legal Battleground

A three-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi, is hearing the matter. The case (WP(C) No. 129/2026) centers on the legality of the SIR process, which Banerjee describes as a "backdoor disenfranchisement drive."

Key Arguments from the Petitioner:

Scale of Deletion: Banerjee alleges that names of over 58 lakh voters have already been deleted, with the potential to affect up to 1.25 crore voters.

Arbitrary "Logical Discrepancies": The ECI has flagged voters based on age-gap algorithms (e.g., parent-child gaps <15 or >50 years), which Banerjee argues are technically flawed and do not account for rural ground realities.

Violation of Rights: The petition asserts that forcing voters to provide documentary evidence against an "arbitrary" 2002 cut-off date violates the Representation of the People Act.

Demands for the 2026 Assembly Polls

As West Bengal prepares for Assembly elections (expected in April–May 2026), the Chief Minister has placed four urgent demands before the court:

• Conduct 2026 Polls on 2025 Rolls: An order to use the electoral rolls finalized in 2025 rather than the new, SIR-revised lists.
• Quash ECI Orders: Nullify the ECI’s internal directives from June and October 2025 that mandated this intensive revision.
• Immediate Stay on Deletions: A complete halt to the removal of names from the current roll.
• Removal of Micro-observers: Banerjee alleges the ECI has "illegally" appointed 8,100 micro-observers who are overstepping statutory bounds.

Atmosphere at the Court

Security has been tightened around the Supreme Court premises as the Chief Minister—a trained lawyer who last practiced in 2003—personally attends the proceedings. The hearing follows a tense meeting on February 2 between Banerjee and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, which the CM described as "humiliating," calling the CEC "arrogant" and a "threat to the country."