SC Flags Bengal as 'Exception' in Electoral Roll Revision Amid Litigation Spate

• Supreme Court observed that West Bengal is an outlier in the nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls due to extensive litigation.
• The bench noted that other states like Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh had higher deletion rates but no such litigation surge.
• The observation followed CM Mamata Banerjee's accusation of an "ECI-BJP nexus" after the supplementary voters list was published without deletion/inclusion numbers.
• SC deployed civil judges from West Bengal, Jharkhand, and Odisha to adjudicate voter list claims under Article 142 due to manpower shortage.
• Concerns were raised about the resolution of 60 lakh "under adjudication" names before nomination deadlines for upcoming polls.