The Supreme Court had, while hearing a suit filed by TMC, instructed that SIR guidelines must be issued through formal notifications and not via WhatsApp.In his X post, Banerjee also alleged misuse of login credentials of roll observers. “Roll observers are designated district-wise, yet it is seen that login credentials linked to these observers are being accessed from a central location in Kolkata,” he claimed. “Login data is being misused to generate queries and specifically target a certain community at the direction of EC’s political masters in Delhi.” Seeking a probe, Banerjee posted: “Should this matter be independently examined, it will be established that the tower location and IP address of the login device differ from the actual location of the concerned roll observer.“He also warned the EC that the issue would be pursued before the Supreme Court. “The Election Commission derives its legitimacy from public trust, not political patronage,” Banerjee wrote, adding, “We shall pursue this matter before the highest court of law. Further, any person aligning themselves with or acting at the behest of zamindars of Delhi will face stringent and uncompromising legal action. Brace yourselves!”The allegations came less than 24 hours after CM Mamata Banerjee described EC as a “Tughlaqi commission” and accused it of acting at the behest of BJP to manipulate voter lists.In the purported chats, Murugan was found instructing ERMOs of South 24 Parganas that a birth certificate issued by a panchayat pradhan was not acceptable as an SIR document.Another post showed Murugan instructing ERMOs that a permanent resident certificate or domicile certificate was issued to non-Bengalis only for appointment in the army or paramilitary, and that it was not acceptable for any other purposes in SIR.A five-member Trinamool delegation comprising Mahua Moitra, Chandrima Bhattacharya, Pratima Mondal, Partha Bhowmick and Bratya Basu visited the office of the CEO to lodge a formal protest over the issue.“We raised the issues before the CEO who said he would look into the matter,” said Basu in a press conference. “We also pointed out that since 14th the portal had been closed. What about those who stood in queue on 14th and are still submitting their documents hoping their documents would be uploaded? The CEO promised that the issue would be seen into.” Reacting to reports that EC had questioned how internal messages of EC officials were made public, Moitra said: “Why is the commission trying to defend an illegality in the first place? What they are doing is violation of SC mandate and we are only highlighting the violation.“
