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In a moment that will be remembered in India’s constitutional history, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee became the first sitting CM to personally argue her own case before the Supreme Court —turning a routine election-law dispute into a defining battle over democracy, federalism, and voter disenfranchisement . Appearing before a bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant , Banerjee urged the Court to “protect democracy” and “protect people’s lives”, as the Court examined the legality and fairness of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls being carried out by the Election Commission of India (ECI) ahead of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections. Why This Hearing Was Unprecedented While politicians routinely challenge constitutional authorities through lawyers, a sitting chief minister personally addressing the Supreme Court is virtually unheard of . Banerjee, a trained advocate, made a 15-minute oral intervention—granted by the Court itself—asserting th...

Background of the Case The Supreme Court is currently examining a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) June 24 notification directing a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar. The petitions were filed in 2025 and raise serious constitutional and statutory questions concerning voter deletion, citizenship determination, and the scope of the Election Commission’s powers. The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi , which sought to ascertain the true intent behind the SIR exercise. Supreme Court’s Core Question: Citizenship or Electoral Hygiene? During the hearing, the Supreme Court posed a pointed question to the ECI: “When you started this exercise, was citizenship in your mind or are you second-guessing it as a reason to begin this exercise?” The Court noted that the SIR notification primarily cited migration, urbanisation, and the need to update electoral entries as...