3 min readNew DelhiFeb 4, 2026 01:48 PM IST
In what could be the first appearance of a sitting chief minister to argue a court case, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reached the Supreme Court on Wednesday morning to argue the petition against the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state.
Clad in a white saree and black muffler, Banerjee reached the court accompanied by lawyers and greeted people with folded hands.
Mamata Banerjee in Supreme Court for SIR Hearing LIVE
In the national capital for three days now, Banerjee has led the Trinamool Congress’s (TMC’s) campaign against the SIR, alleging that it was being conducted in a partisan manner to favour the BJP.
Banerjee has an LLB degree from Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri College of Law under Calcutta University in 1982, with party leaders saying that she last practised as a lawyer in 2003. On Tuesday night, the TMC released a digital poster with Banerjee dressed in a lawyer’s gown walking the stairs of the apex court with the caption “People’s advocate vs devil’s advocate”.
In a post on X, the TMC said: “Standing up for the people, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has reached the Supreme Court. Today will stand as an example before the entire nation and the world.”
TMC sources said that Banerjee’s arguments in court will likely include points like an appeal to the court to pass orders to direct the Election Commission of India (ECI) to use the 2025 voter list for the upcoming state polls. She is also likely to ask the court to pass directions to the ECI, urging it not to “drag voters to hearings for spelling errors”. She is expected to appeal to the court to give directions to the ECI to “accept Aadhaar as enough proof of identity in discrepancy cases”.
On Monday, Banerjee visited the two Banga Bhawans in Delhi and had a confrontation with police officials after they barricaded the guesthouses where “SIR affected” people from her state were staying. The same day, Banerjee led a delegation to meet Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and came out of the meeting, accusing him of being “arrogant and a liar”.
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On Tuesday, Banerjee held a press conference along with scores of people from West Bengal who were allegedly affected by the SIR, and said the TMC is considering moving an impeachment motion in Parliament against the CEC.
