Calcutta HC sets up committee to shift urgent matters to other courts, focus on final touches to SIR

The Chief Justice of Calcutta High Court Sujoy Paul has constituted a committee to oversee interim arrangements for shifting urgent matters to alternative courts, following the engagement of judicial officers for work related to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.

The development comes in the wake of the Supreme Court’s order of February 20, in which the apex court has directed judicial officers be assigned to complete the ongoing SIR in West Bengal. The SC pointed out that the persistent “trust deficit” between the State government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Election Commission of India (EC) had led to a “stalemate”, with time running out.

The committee appointed by Chief Justice Paul comprises Justices Tapabrata Chakraborty and Arijit Banerjee, Registrar General Nabanita Ray, Registrar (judicial service) Raju Mukherjee, and Joint Registrar-cum-Secretary to the Chief Justice Ajay Kumar Das.

In a separate notification, the Chief Justice of the Calcutta HC constituted a committee for each district “for the smooth compliance of the order of the Hon’ble Supreme Court with the following members”, comprising the District Judge, the District Magistrate, and the Superintendent of Police.

On Sunday (February 22, 2026), Chief Justice Paul held a meeting with the State’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Agarwal, Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty, Director General of Police Piyush Pandey, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Supratim Sarkar, and other officials representing the Union of India.

It was decided that judicial officers would begin the process of completing the SIR from Monday (February 23, 2026). The Supreme Court had on February 20 also directed the EC to publish the processed list of electoral rolls on February 28. 

Unless the electoral rolls are finalised, the schedule for the Assembly election in West Bengal cannot be announced. The EC has decided to deploy 480 companies of the Central Armed Police Forces in the State by March 10. The first 240 companies will be deployed by March 1.