'Justice crying behind closed doors': Mamata Banerjee slams EC over SIR in Supreme Court

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (File: PTI)

• Mamata Banerjee asked SC to nullify EC's SIR orders in West Bengal.
• SC directed EC to ensure SIR process is transparent and convenient for voters
• 1.25 crore voters in West Bengal flagged for logical discrepancies in voter list

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Appearing before the Supreme Court, Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday slammed the Election Commission saying she has written several times to the poll body on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and remarked, “justice is crying behind the door". The TMC supremo also stated that she is not making the arguments on 'behalf of her party' but for a 'larger cause'.

The Supreme Court  heard a batch of pleas against the SIR exercise in West Bengal. In her petition, Banerjee has sought the quashing of various directions and instructions issued by the ECI.

“When justice is crying behind the door... then we thought we are not getting justice anywhere. We wrote 6 letters to the election commission. I am a bonded labour... I prefer that, I am not fighting for my party,” she was quoted as saying by Bar and Bench.

The bench acknowledged that Banerjee's plea is genuine and assured that every issue has a solution. The court also issued a notice to the ECI on Banerjee's petition. The next hearing is posted for Monday.

On January 19, the top court passed a slew of directions, observing that the SIR process in West Bengal should be transparent and not cause inconvenience. It directed the Election Commission (EC) to display the names of those on "logical discrepancies" list at gram panchayat bhavans and block offices, where documents and objections will also be submitted.

Logical discrepancies in progeny linking with the 2002 voter list include instances of a mismatch in the parent's name and the age difference between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.

Noting that 1.25 crore voters in the state figure on the "logical discrepancies" list, the CJI-led bench had directed that the offices for submitting documents and objections be set up within the panchayat bhavans or block offices and asked the West Bengal government to provide adequate manpower to the election authorities.