New Delhi: The Supreme Court has affirmed the Calcutta high court’s direction to the West Bengal State Election Commission to ask for central forces for the West Bengal panchayat elections, dismissing the Mamata Banerjee government’s petition against it.
A vacation bench of Justice B.V. Nagarathna and Justice Manoj Misra turned down the special leave petition by the Bengal government and the West Bengal State Election Commission, LiveLaw has reported.
Panchayat polls will be held across Bengal on July 8.
On June 15, the Calcutta high court has directed the State Election Commission to requisition central forces for all districts in the state within 48 hours, noting that a similar direction two days earlier had not led to any action. The high court had issued these directions in a public interest litigation filed by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari.
The Supreme Court said that it found that the high court order did not call for any interference.
“The fact remains that the tenor of the order of the High Court is ultimately to ensure that free and fair election is conducted the entire State of West Bengal, since State is conducting election for local bodies on a single day and having regard to the volume of booths which are being set up,” it said.
The bench, while orally noting that the panchayat polls cover over 75,000 seats, asked the West Bengal State Election Commission as to why it was concerned with the “source of the forces” and said that its primary concern should be a fair election.
The last panchayat polls in Bengal saw rampant violence in 2018, with chief minister Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress having been accused of thwarting opposition candidates from even filing nomination papers.
This time, in the run up to the polls, two separate political clashes have claimed the lives of at least three persons, as TheWire has reported. Incidents of violence have been reported from across the state.
Justice Nagarathna, in the course of the hearing, also pointed out that the Bengal government itself has in the past requisitioned for forces from other states, thus admitting its forces are inadequate.
She also asked how a fair election can be held if candidates are killed while filing nominations, according to LiveLaw.
“Holding elections cannot be a license for violence…if persons are not able to file their nominations and if they are finished off while they are going to file it then, where is the free and fair election?”, the judge asked.