Bengal SIR: EC likely to extend February 14 deadline after SC directives to make exercise transparent

People gather at a school during a hearing under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, in Kolkata, West Bengal. (Courtesy: PTI photo)

The deadline for West Bengal's SIR of electoral rolls is likely to be extended after Supreme Court directions for transparency. The EC must publish a list of voters with discrepancies and allow extra time for affected voters to submit documents.

Did our AI summary help?

The deadline for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound West Bengal is likely to be extended. The extension of the February 14 deadline, as per a report in Hindustan Times, comes after the Supreme Court's directions to the Election Commission asking it to make the electoral rolls revision a more transparent, accessible and voter-friendly exercise.

Meanwhile, the poll body has sought an explanation from West Bengal chief secretary on why no action was taken against four state government officials who have been accused of adding names of fictitious voters in the electoral rolls and breaching data security.

"The Supreme Court order goes to suggest that something of this sort (extending the February 7 and February 14 deadlines) needs to be done. The ECI is yet to take a call on this. The list of electors with logical discrepancies has to be published. So, it is obvious that there would be some extension of the deadlines," said a top EC official.

The Special Intensive Revision was launched in West Bengal on November 4, 2025, with the draft electoral roll released on December 16. The deadline for filing claims and objections was initially January 15 and later extended by the poll body to January 19. Hearings are set to continue until February 7, ahead of the publication of the final electoral roll on February 14.

During the hearing of a batch of petitions earlier this week, the Supreme Court directed EC to publish a list of 13.6 million Bengal voters who have logical discrepancies in their enumeration forms. The poll panel was also instructed to allow an additional 10 days after the list is published for affected voters to submit the required documents.

As per the Election Commission, the list of persons with logical discrepancies and those who were unmapped would be published by January 24.

"It is unlikely that the SIR process would be completed within the set deadline. The dates are likely to be extended," HT said quoting a senior poll panel official in Kolkata.