Bengal SIR: Hearing notices to Amartya Sen, Mohammed Shami part of routine verification, clarifies poll panel

Bengal SIR: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of West Bengal has clarified that SIR hearing summonses to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, cricketer Mohammed Shami and Bengali actor-turned-MP Dev were part of a routine electoral verification process, and not targeted actions.

Notices issued to these well-known personalities had sparked a controversy in the poll-bound state.

Earlier, at a public rally in Rampurhat, Birbhum district, TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee claimed that the EC had served Sen with a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) hearing notice.

Notice to Shami

Before that, Indian cricket team fast bowler Mohammed Shami and his brother Mohammed Kaif have been issued notices to appear for SIR hearing before the Election Commission of India.

The notice was officially issued on Monday from Kartju Nagar School in the Jadavpur area of South Kolkata. Shami is a voter in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) Ward No. 93, which falls under the Rashbehari assembly constituency

Trinamool Congress MP Dev, also known as Deepak Adhikari, has also received a summons for an SIR hearing. Three other members of his family have also been sent hearing notices regarding the SIR.

EC Clarifies

According to the clarification issued by the CEO on Wednesday, scrutiny of the enumeration forms revealed that the mandatory linkage columns had been left blank by the electors concerned.

Such cases automatically call for a hearing, and the individuals were summoned along with several other similarly placed electors, as per the Election Commission's notifications.

"The Enumeration Form clearly shows that the linkage columns have been left blank by the elector," the state CEO's office said in a post on X.

In case of Amartya Sen, it said that his enumeration form, submitted as an overseas elector, was received by a family member, Shantabhanu Sen, who linked him with his mother, Amita Sen.

"Since the age difference between the elector and his mother was less than 15 years, logical discrepancy was flagged by the ERO Net Portal," the CEO's office said, adding that "notice was generated for Amartya Sen in parity with the other discrepancy cases".

Amartya Sen is a renowned Indian economist and philosopher, celebrated for his work on welfare economics, social justice, and human development. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 for his research on poverty, famine, and inequality, showing that famines often result from unequal access to food rather than shortages.

Taking note of his advanced age, the poll panel said, "Since the elector is aged 85 years plus, ERO/AERO along with BLO have visited his residence and completed the formalities."

The CEO's office also stated that the process followed in all cases was uniform and strictly in accordance with EC's rules, and that the issuance of notices did not involve any special or selective action.

Shami is originally from Uttar Pradesh, has been living in Kolkata for a long time due to his cricket career. He moved to Kolkata from Uttar Pradesh at a very young age on the advice of his coach.

Trinamool Congress MP Dev, also known as Deepak Adhikari, has received a summons for an SIR hearing. Three other members of his family have also been sent hearing notices regarding the SIR, according to media reports.

SIR in Bengal

On 16 December, the Election Commission published West Bengal's draft electoral rolls following SIR, deleting the names of more than 58 lakh voters. The names of voters were dropped on various grounds, including death and migration, and redrawing voter profiles across districts and border belts ahead of the 2026 assembly polls.

The exercise sparked a political row in Bengal where election are scheduled later this year. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said earlier that she will move court against SIR of electoral rolls and over the "inhumane" way it was conducted in the state.

(With PTI inputs)