Today, the Supreme Court affirmed the order made by the Calcutta High Court on Panchayat Elections. The matter was listed before the bench comprising Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Manoj Misra. The Bench, while hearing the Special Leave Petition remarked that the elections cannot become an authorization for violence. And ultimately dismissed by the petition filed by the West Bengal Election Commission and the state of West Bengal.
While hearing the petition, the court found that the order made by the Calcutta High Court does not interfere in the elections. It ultimately ensures the conduct of elections in a free and fair manner for all candidates. They further remarked that the election for all local bodies is happening on a single day and a large no. of booths would be constituted. Keeping in mind all these factors, the High Court order furthers the intent of free and fair elections.
On Monday, this case was mentioned by Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora before the bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Sundresh but the same was not taken up. The court today while hearing the matter also remarked that the state election commission should be concerned about conducting free and fair elections. It should not be concerned about the deployment of the forces and their sources.
Background of the dispute
Initially, this case was filed as public interest litigation before the Calcutta High Court by the Opposition’s leader Suvendhu. The relief sought under this petition was the deployment of central forces which would ensure free and fair elections and an extension of the nomination deadline. The deployment was sought because the state has witnessed violence in similar instances such as the previous year’s municipal elections and the Kolkata municipal elections held in 2021.
The extension was sought on the grounds of inadequate timing and violence before the conduct of the election. The election is scheduled for July 8th for around 73000 seats. In the 2018 elections, more than 1/3rd of seats were won by Trinamool Congress Candidates as other parties were not allowed to put candidates. This time, the opposition has been unable to file nomination for 50 blocks due to intimidation.
Decision Made by Calcutta High Court
The petition was listed before the division bench of the high court. The bench comprising Chief Justice Sivagnaman and Justice Uday directed for the immediate deployment of forces in the district and areas that are accorded a sensitive tag by the state election commission.
The bench also directed that the cost of deployment will be borne by the union government. And the election commission officers are to display their identity cards all the time and provide the same during the elections. Concerning the second relief, the court entrusted the issue to State Election Commission. On June 15th, the High Court observed that no action was taken on the order of deployment and ordered the State Election Commission to deploy the forces within the next 48 hours. Being aggrieved by this decision, the state of West Bengal and the state election commission filed an SLP before the apex court challenging the order made on June 13th and June 15th.
