Hyderabad, Jan. 15 -- The claims that the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) allegedly sends instructions through informal messages on WhatsApp to state officials, changing the rules by which the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll was being conducted in the state, are true, according to the Reporters' Collective, which independently confirmed this in an investigative report.

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) had initially alleged this in a plea filed by the party's parliamentary leader Derek O'Brien before the Supreme Court. He had said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was sending out instructions on the SIR to booth-level officers (BLOs) to act without "formal orders." The top court is currently seeking ECI's...