SIR in Bengal marred by threats, violence & intimidation, EC tells Supreme Court

The EC claimed the protestors attempted forcible entry, broke police barricades, vandalised the office and prevented officers from entering and leaving, causing “serious hindrance” to official work.

The Election Commission has said that the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal has been marred by violence, intimidation and sustained political interference and obstruction against election officials.

In an affidavit, the poll panel also cited an incident, related to the gherao of the office of the Chief Electoral Officer in Kolkata on November 24, 2025.

The EC claimed the protestors attempted forcible entry, broke police barricades, vandalised the office, obstructed officials, locked the premises from outside and prevented officers from entering and leaving, causing “serious hindrance” to official work.

It pointed out, even though a letter from the EC was sent to the Commissioner of Police of Kolkata over the security breach, the demonstrators were not removed and they remained encamped in the premises for an extended duration of 28 hours.

It also claimed that the sanctity of the 2025 electoral rolls was questionable since more than 58 lakh absent, dead and shifted voters have been identified in the current SIR.

All this was opposed to the enumeration phase in other states, which proceeded seamlessly and without incident, it contended.

Referring to "overt political threats against election officials," the EC also said that there was a statement made by a sitting Minister that he would “break the legs of Election Commission”.

It also claimed that an MLA warned that deletion of names during the SIR would amount to “playing with fire”, issued threats of physically restraining BLOs and made public statements urging people to take the law into their own hands.