UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Supreme Court steps in; judicial officers will now join Bengal SIR process

Q1. With reference to the Supreme Court's February 2026 orders on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal, consider the following statements: 1. The directions were issued by a three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India. 2. The Court asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to depute serving as well as retired judicial officers of the rank of District Judge / Additional District Judge. 3. The Court permitted the requisitioning of judicial officers from the neighbouring States of Jharkhand and Odisha. 4. The deputed judicial officers were entrusted with carrying out a fresh house-to-house enumeration of voters in place of Booth Level Officers. Which of the above statements is/are NOT correct?

1. The directions were issued by a three-judge Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India.
2. The Court asked the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court to depute serving as well as retired judicial officers of the rank of District Judge / Additional District Judge.
3. The Court permitted the requisitioning of judicial officers from the neighbouring States of Jharkhand and Odisha.
4. The deputed judicial officers were entrusted with carrying out a fresh house-to-house enumeration of voters in place of Booth Level Officers.

• A. 1 and 2 only
• B. 3 only
• C. 4 only
• D. 2 and 4 only

Q2. In the context of recent electoral roll exercises ordered by the Election Commission of India, what does the term 'Special Intensive Revision' (SIR) precisely refer to?

• A. A routine annual exercise limited to addition or deletion of names on the basis of applications received from electors
• B. A ground-up, house-to-house re-verification aimed at preparing fresh electoral rolls in selected States/UTs with a notified qualifying date
• C. An Aadhaar-based authentication drive for linking EPIC numbers with the Unique Identification database
• D. A court-monitored re-polling exercise conducted in constituencies where election results have been set aside

Q3. In the West Bengal Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise on which the Supreme Court intervened in February 2026, the constitutional authority that ordered and is conducting the revision of electoral rolls is:

• A. The Election Commission of India
• B. The State Election Commission of West Bengal
• C. The Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India
• D. The Ministry of Law and Justice through its Legislative Department

Q4. The Supreme Court Bench that, in February 2026, directed the deployment of judicial officers to assist the Election Commission in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in West Bengal consisted of how many judges?

• A. Two judges
• B. Three judges
• C. Five judges
• D. Seven judges

Q5. With reference to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls vis-à-vis the routine Summary Revision conducted annually, consider the following statements: 1. While the Summary Revision is essentially an application-based addition and deletion of names, the SIR involves a fresh house-to-house enumeration of voters. 2. The qualifying date notified by the Election Commission for the ongoing SIR in West Bengal is 01.01.2026. 3. Unlike the Summary Revision, which is conducted by the Election Commission of India, the SIR is conducted under the authority of the State Election Commission of the concerned State. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

1. While the Summary Revision is essentially an application-based addition and deletion of names, the SIR involves a fresh house-to-house enumeration of voters.
2. The qualifying date notified by the Election Commission for the ongoing SIR in West Bengal is 01.01.2026.
3. Unlike the Summary Revision, which is conducted by the Election Commission of India, the SIR is conducted under the authority of the State Election Commission of the concerned State.

• A. 1 and 2 only
• B. 2 and 3 only
• C. 1 and 3 only
• D. 1, 2 and 3