West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appeared in the Supreme Court to argue a petition challenging the SIR

New Delhi: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has appeared in the Supreme Court to argue a petition challenging the SIR measures in Bengal.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appeared in person in the Supreme Court today. Mamata made her arguments in the Chief Justice's chambers on Wednesday afternoon. 

Mamata sought five minutes to present her case before Chief Justice Suryakant. The Chief Justice then granted her permission and allowed her to speak for 15 minutes before the bench.

He argued his own plea challenging the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensified Revision (SIR) of the voter list in the state.

Mamata made sharp criticisms against the Election Commission during the argument. She also alleged that the Election Commission ignored all her requests. "The problem is that we are not getting justice anywhere. I have written to the Election Commission six times to inform about the complaints related to the voter list and the three-year revision (SIR). But, I have not received any reply yet," Mamata said. Mamata said that justice is crying behind closed doors and that her effort is to protect democracy.

While presenting arguments in the Supreme Court, Mamata Banerjee claimed that over 150 people died due to the stress of voting, including a booth-level officer who died due to extreme stress caused by the instructions of the Chief Electoral Officer.

Mamata Banerjee, who had filed an interim application seeking permission from the court to appear in person and present arguments as a party, arrived in the courtroom along with her legal team. The case will be heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice Suryakant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi.

Banerjee argued that a direct appearance before the court would help her understand the ground realities faced by the residents of West Bengal due to the SIR process. She argued that the process could lead to large-scale disenfranchisement of eligible voters ahead of the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections.

In her main petition filed on January 28, 2026, Banerjee sought quashing of several ECI directives and instructions related to SIR. She requested that the upcoming assembly elections be held on the basis of the existing voter list instead of the one revised through SIR.

They also demanded that cases involving name discrepancies or typos under the "logical differential" category should not be subjected to hearing during the SIR and instead, such corrections should be made voluntarily using available documents. They also demanded that all identity documents issued by competent authorities should be accepted as valid evidence.

As the current Chief Minister of West Bengal and Chairperson of the All India Trinamool Congress, she has made it clear that she is fully aware of the Supreme Court procedures and etiquette and is committed to following the established rules. She graduated with an LLB from Jogesh Chandra Chowdhury College of Law, Kolkata and last practiced as an advocate around 2003.