Nobel Laureate and economist Amartya Sen.
| Photo Credit: Sampath Kumar G.P.
Economist and Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has been served a hearing notice by the Election Commission of India (ECI) in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
The notice states that the age difference between Professor Sen and his parents is less than 15 years and that a hearing will be held at his residence in Birbhum district on January 16.
Professor Sen is a voter in the Bolpur Assembly segment in West Bengal’s Birbhum district.
On Wednesday morning, the Booth Level Officer of the ward where Professor Sen is enrolled visited his residence, Pratichi, in Santiniketan and served the notice. Professor Sen is currently not in India.
“As per your declaration, the age difference between you and your parents is less than 15 years, which is not generally expected and this needs to be clarified through documentation in the light of the voter list of the last SIR,” the notice, written in Bengali, said.
The notice further stated that Professor Sen was requested to appear before the undersigned on January 16, 2026, at 12 noon, “at your residence along with the original documents prescribed by the Election Commission of India (which are attached to this notice and mentioned in the information sheet at the back of the counting form), for the maintenance of your name in the final electoral roll”.
Trinamool Congress general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Tuesday said it had come to his notice that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who has brought global recognition to the country, had been served a hearing notice under the SIR. He added that similar notices had been issued to Bengali cinema actor Dev and World Cup-winning cricketer Md. Shami during the revision exercise.
After the first phase of the SIR, 58 lakh names were deleted from the electoral rolls, while about 1.26 crore voters were identified with “logical discrepancies” at the start of the SIR hearings on December 27. The number of such discrepancies in West Bengal now stands at about 94.49 lakh.
The State’s Chief Electoral Officer, acting on directions from the ECI, has instructed all District Electoral Officers to immediately issue notices to around 95 lakh voters flagged with logical discrepancies.
Published – January 07, 2026 05:27 pm IST
