The Supreme Court has refused to hear the petition of Trinamool Congress against the training given by the Election Commission to the judicial officers engaged in West Bengal SIR. Friday (February 27, 2026) Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, on behalf of TMC, said that the Election Commission is telling the judges which documents they should accept and which not.
According to the report of Live Law, on this argument of Kapil Sibal, the Supreme Court said, ‘If the Election Commission will not give him training, then who will? The judicial officers will accept only those documents which have been validated in the SIR notification and our order. Don’t raise unnecessary fears. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that the training module of the Election Commission cannot override the orders of the Supreme Court and judicial officers should also be trusted.
In the last hearing, in view of the differences between the Bengal government and the Election Commission regarding the appointment of officers in the SIR, the Supreme Court had directed the Calcutta High Court to appoint judicial officers in the SIR. These officers are investigating the claims and objections in the SIR. Kapil Sibal said in today’s hearing that after the court’s order, the Election Commission, behind your back, has started training judicial officers for the SIR process. He said that as per the order of the court, this decision will be taken by the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court.
On his arguments, CJI Surya Kant said that our order meant that the Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court should see the arrangements of the authorities for the SIR. He said, ‘Don’t obstruct the process over small issues. We cannot listen to such issues. This should be stopped. Judicial officers know what to do and what not to do.
Justice Bagchi said that the Supreme Court had clearly stated in its order which documents would be accepted. We had told which documents should be examined. Our instructions are clear, they cannot be reversed. On this, Kapil Sibal said that in the training, judicial officers have been asked not to accept permanent residence certificate. Justice Bagchi said that if this document is included in our order, then it will be seen.
Kapil Sibal urged the court to allow the judicial officers to take their own decision while examining the documents in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) being done for the voter list and not to take the decision under the influence of the Election Commission. The court said on this that the judicial officers are aware of the order of the Supreme Court.
(With inputs from Nipun Sehgal)
