After clashing with the Election Commission on Voter List Reform or SIR in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee reached the Supreme Court regarding the fight. On Wednesday, February 4, Mamata not only appeared in the court as a petitioner, but also argued. The Election Commission sought time to respond to the points made in Mamata’s petition. After this the court adjourned the hearing for Monday.
Historic opportunity, unprecedented arrangement
This was the first time in the history of the Supreme Court that a Chief Minister was appearing in the court as a petitioner. In view of the possibility of a crowd of supporters coming along with Mamata, unprecedented security arrangements were made outside the court. However, at around 10:10 in the morning, Mamata Banerjee reached the Supreme Court without any fanfare. Due to security reasons, permission was already given to take his vehicle inside.
‘You are my eyes and ears’
At around 10:14, Mamata Banerjee entered Court No. 1 i.e. the Chief Justice’s court and sat on the back seat. A lawyer requested him to go ahead. On this Mamta said politely, ‘You people are my eyes and ears. I will know everything through you and it will continue.
Mamta waited
At 10:30 am, the bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul M Pancholi sat. The court started hearing as per the list. The West Bengal SIR case was at number 21 in this list. In such a situation, it was clear that the hearing on the Bengal case would take a lot of time. Mamta sat patiently in the court waiting for her case. Once in between, she went to the room of the Secretary General, the highest administrative officer of the Supreme Court, to have tea.
short time plea
Finally, the hearing of the West Bengal case started at around 1:05 pm. Senior lawyer Shyam Diwan addressed the court on behalf of Mamata Banerjee. He told that on January 19, the court had given 10 days additional time to the people falling in the logical discrepancy category to submit the documents and present their views to the Election Commission officials. This period is being completed in 4 days. Right now there are about 68 lakh people who have not got a chance to be heard.
Mamta requested
After this, Mamata Banerjee requested the judges to allow her to speak. Chief Justice told Mamata, ‘Famous lawyers like Kapil Sibal appeared in this case on the 19th. Today a qualified lawyer like Shyam Dewan is appearing for you. These lawyers can present your case in a better way.
‘Election Commission did not listen to me’
On the Chief Justice’s words, Mamata Banerjee humbly said, ‘I am from West Bengal. I understand the local conditions there, so I want to put forward some points with full respect towards the court. I am not fighting my battle. I have come here with a matter related to millions of common people. I wrote 6 letters to the Election Commission. If he had taken my views seriously and resolved, I would not have had to come here.
‘They are targeting West Bengal’
After this Mamta said, ‘West Bengal is being targeted. There are elections in many states including Assam, but SIR is not happening there. In Bengal, SIR is being done only to erase the names of voters. If a daughter has started using her husband’s surname after marriage, then she has also been put in the name mismatch category and a notice has been sent.
Chief Justice said- ‘Thank you’
Mamta said that there are about 70 lakh people who are in the name mismatch category. Due to the way it is pronounced in West Bengal, the spelling of the name also changes many times. Rakesh Dwivedi has appeared for the Election Commission. It is possible that on the basis of Bengali pronunciation, his surname should be written as Divedi. On this the Chief Justice said, ‘We can understand this. Thank you for raising this topic. The Election Commission should look into this.
Demand to postpone the hearing
Meanwhile, a lawyer appearing for the Election Commission requested to postpone the hearing. He said that he has not yet received the copy of the petition. The Election Commission should be given time to reply. Mamata Banerjee interrupted him and requested the judges to give him an opportunity to complete his views.
Commission’s lawyers clash with Mamata
Mamta objected to the appointment of micro observer in the state. He said, ‘Micro observers have been appointed only in West Bengal. Micro observers were called from other states and appointed. Opposing this, senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for the Election Commission, said, ‘There is a provision for this in the law. If the state does not cooperate then the Election Commission has to call officials from outside. We had asked for Class 2 officers, which were not given.
The court gave assurance
Seeing the possibility of not getting a chance to complete her views, Mamata said that she should be given a chance to speak for 5 minutes. On this the Chief Justice said, ‘We will give you not 5 but 15 minutes’ time. it is no problem. We all want that the name of any eligible voter should not be left out of the list.
Mamta’s last argument
The judges said that the Election Commission is asking for time to reply. Mamta’s lawyer should give a copy of the petition to the Election Commission’s lawyer. The Commission should present its stand on this on Monday. If necessary, the time of SIR can be extended. After this, Mamta said that her last argument is that the names of people with logical discrepancy should not be removed from the list. They should be given full opportunity to improve.
‘Protect civil rights’
In the end the court said that it will give an order after looking at all the aspects. At present the hearing is being postponed to Monday. After this Mamta said, ‘I want to express my gratitude to all the judges. This is a fight to save democracy. I have reached here with this. You are requested to protect the rights of common citizens.
