Kolkata: Union Minister Sukanta Majumdar on Tuesday called for the arrest of West Bengal’s former Chief Secretary Manoj Pant, alleging he illegally attended a high-level meeting convened under Supreme Court orders to resolve a deepening crisis over the state’s electoral rolls.

The allegations follow a Saturday meeting between the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and top constitutional functionaries intended to finalise the "Special Intensive Revision" (SIR) of voter lists. Majumdar, a senior BJP leader, claimed the state's Trinamool Congress (TMC) government allowed unauthorised individuals to participate in an attempt to "influence the judiciary."

"The order clearly mentions who was authorised to attend the meeting to take forward the SIR process. Despite that, I have received information that Manoj Pant was present. In what capacity did he attend? He is no longer the chief secretary," Majumdar said during a press conference in North 24 Parganas district.

Trust Deficit and Judicial Intervention

The dispute centres on the SIR process, a massive exercise to verify the eligibility of millions of voters ahead of upcoming assembly elections. The Supreme Court took the "extraordinary" step on Feb. 20 of roping in judicial officers to oversee the work, citing a "trust deficit" and a "blame game" between the Election Commission of India (ECI) and the Mamata Banerjee-led government.

The apex court had specifically directed that the Feb. 21 meeting include:

  • The Chief Electoral Officer and a senior ECI official.
  • The current Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police.
  • The Advocate General and the Additional Solicitor General.

Majumdar asserted that because Pant has transitioned out of the Chief Secretary role, his presence was "completely illegal" and a criminal violation of the court's directive. "An FIR should be filed against Manoj Pant, and he should be arrested," the Union Minister added.

TMC Response

Senior state minister Shashi Panja dismissed the accusations, characterising the BJP's stance as typical of its "unsubstantiated claims." She challenged the opposition to produce evidence of the breach, stating that the people of Bengal would "reject such politics."

The Scale of Discrepancy

The legal battle is unfolding as officials race to meet a Feb. 28 deadline for publishing the final rolls. The Supreme Court noted Tuesday that there are nearly 50 lakh (5 million) pending claims and objections categorised as "logical discrepancies", cases where voter data shows implausible age differences or mismatched parental links.

To accelerate the process, the court has authorised the Calcutta High Court to requisition additional judicial officers from neighbouring Odisha and Jharkhand.

With inputs from PTI