The office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) clarified that SIR hearing summonses to Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, cricketer Mohammed Shami and Bengali actor-turned-TMC 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.

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

As per the Election Commission’s notification, such cases automatically call for a hearing, and the individuals were summoned along with several other similarly placed electors.

“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.

Addressing the case of economist Amartya Sen, the CEO’s office 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 Dr Amartya Sen in parity with the other discrepancy cases.” Taking note of the elector’s advanced age, the CEO’s office 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.