The Supreme Court on January 19, 2026, sharply criticized the Election Commission (EC) over the difficulties caused to 1.36 crore people in West Bengal. These voters received notices to explain “logical discrepancies” in their electoral data during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. The discrepancies include having more than six children, spelling differences in names like 'Ganguly' and 'Datta', unusual age gaps such as only 15 years between parents and children, or grandparents younger than 40 years. Justice Joymalya Bagchi, part of the three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant, highlighted the “stress and strain” the EC's actions were imposing on ordinary people. Senior advocates Shyam Divan and Kapil Sibal, representing petitioners including Trinamool Congress MPs, questioned the EC's criteria and methods. They described the criteria as arbitrary and without legal backing, questioning why the EC should track “how many progenies my parents had.” The EC found examples like seven persons reported with 100 children and two persons listed with 50 children. Justice Bagchi questioned the logic behind a required age gap, noting, “do we live in a country where there is no child marriage?” Kapil Sibal also pointed out the EC only had 500 hearing venues but needed over 1900 for efficient processing. So far, only 15 lakh hearings have taken place since December 16, but with only 27 days left to finalize the rolls. The Court ordered the EC to publicly display lists of those with logical discrepancies at local offices and extended the deadline for submitting objections and documents by 10 days. The EC must give receipts for documents submitted and allow objections through authorised representatives, including political Booth-Level Agents (BLAs). The West Bengal government and State Election Commission were instructed to support the EC with manpower. The State Police are tasked to maintain law and order to aid the process. A dispute arose when senior advocate Kalyan Bandhopadhyay said the EC was rejecting school board admit cards as proof of identity, despite them showing official birth dates. Justice Bagchi called these “statutory documents” and questioned their rejection. The EC's advocate Rakesh Dwivedi expressed frustration at the lack of trust in the EC, saying, “If the EC is to be distrusted, let the EC not conduct elections.” Notable individuals including MPs, MLAs, and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen received notices. Advocate Bandhopadhyay questioned, “Is it that only you are above doubt, and others are not?” The Supreme Court's firm directions aim to ease voter verification chaos and protect the rights of West Bengal's millions of voters just weeks before the final voter list is published.