The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed officials in West Bengal to expedite hearings related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, setting a strict deadline of seven days for completion. This directive was issued during a meeting between the full bench of the ECI and the state's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manoj Kumar Agarwal, on Friday, January 30, 2026.

The ECI has mandated that all hearings and document uploads be completed within the next seven days. This follows a ten-day window granted by the Supreme Court for document submission. The Commission has also set firm timelines for issuing notices and uploading necessary documents. Pending notices were required to be generated by 5 PM on Saturday, and Booth Level Officers (BLOs) must upload proof of service for outstanding notices by February 1st.

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) is a process initiated by the ECI to comprehensively update and verify voters on electoral rolls at the grassroots level. As part of this process, officials known as Booth Level Officers (BLOs) conduct house-to-house enumeration, collecting enumeration forms and intensively verifying entries. The SIR aims to create electoral rolls from scratch.

The ECI's decision to speed up the SIR hearings comes in the wake of the Supreme Court reserving its judgment on petitions challenging the legality of the SIR process. These petitions, filed by over 13 individuals and organizations, question the ECI's authority to conduct the SIR in its current form under Article 326 of the Constitution and the Representation of the People Act, 1950.

To ensure inclusivity, the ECI has established 160 special decentralised hearing centres across 12 districts in West Bengal, specifically targeting marginalized communities in remote areas. Electoral officers will travel to these areas to conduct hearings, saving residents from arduous journeys.

Concerns have been raised about irregularities in uploading documents during the SIR hearing process. Reports submitted by special observers have identified instances of deliberate wrongdoings and named the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) responsible.

The Supreme Court had earlier directed the ECI to display the names of voters on the "logical discrepancies" list at various government offices. This list includes 1.25 crore voters in West Bengal. Logical discrepancies include mismatches in parent's name and age differences between a voter and their parent being less than 15 years or more than 50 years.

Former Indian footballer Mehtab Hossain has also received a summons from the Election Commission under the SIR, stating he would appear and submit all required documents. He believes the summons is related to a discrepancy in his mother's name on voter records. Hossain also expressed concerns about the SIR exercise's planning and sudden implementation.

The hearing phase is expected to continue until February 7th. According to Election Commission sources, hearings are being conducted for a total of 1.5 crore voters in the state, with 90 lakh hearings already completed. To meet the deadline, the ECI has directed the West Bengal government to conduct hearings for 7 to 8 lakh voters daily.