India, Feb. 5 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written to the West Bengal government, flagging non-compliance with its directions related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll and set a February 9 deadline for compliance reports.

In a letter to the state's chief secretary, the ECI cited non-compliance with at least five directions. This came hours after Mamata Banerjee became the first sitting chief minister to personally argue her own petition before the Supreme Court and urged it to protect democracy and people's lives. The court sought a response from the ECI on withdrawing notices to millions of people over minor spelling variations and dialect-based discrepancies during the SIR. The court...