The Supreme Court has said former West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and others were free to file fresh applications over claims that deletions during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls may have affected poll outcomes in several Assembly constituencies in the state.
Appearing for the Trinamool Congress, Kalyan Banerjee told the top court that in 31 Assembly seats, the margin of victory was lower than the number of voter names deleted during the SIR adjudication process. He cited one constituency where, according to him, his party's candidate lost by just 862 votes while more than 5,000 names were removed from the electoral rolls.
Responding to the submissions, the bench observed that if the victory margin in constituencies was indeed lower than the number of deleted votes, fresh applications could be moved before the court. During an earlier hearing too, the apex court had indicated it would examine cases where the difference between winning and losing margins was smaller than the disputed deletions.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee, dressed in a black lawyer’s gown, appeared at the Calcutta High Court on Thursday in connection with a case related to allegations of post-poll violence in the state following the TMC’s drubbing in the Assembly elections.
