SIR hearing LIVE: Either judicial officers or former judges would have to be appointed to complete SIR, says CJI Kant
European Commission uses ‘too restrictive’ software tools and fails to understand ‘inherent differences’, Supreme Court says
The Supreme Court on Monday (February 9, 2026) said the Election Commission (EC), at least in its special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal, has used “very restrictive” software tools with little tolerance for “natural” differences and inconsistencies commonly found in India, including Bengali households.
“The tools you have implemented in your software seem to be very restrictive tools. They eliminate natural differences. Surnames come in various forms – ‘Roy’, ‘Ray’… There is a common practice in Bengali households for ‘Kumar’ to be the middle name. Now, will notification be given if ‘Kumar’ is missing?” Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked EC counsel, senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu.
This exchange came before the Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant asked the EC to extend the deadline for the claim and objection phase of the West Bengal SIR to one week from February 14.
The bench also directed the State Director General of Police to file a personal statement responding to allegations of planned violence and burning of documents at SIR verification centres.
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European Commission uses ‘too restrictive’ software tools and fails to understand ‘inherent differences’, Supreme Court says
The Supreme Court criticized the Election Commission’s restrictive software tools and called for the extension of the claim-objection phase due to allegations of violence.
