Court’s registry received over 44 e-mails complaining about poll violence: HC to SEC

Kolkata: Reprimanding the State Election Commission (SEC) over the occurrence of violence during the panchayat polls, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stated that the Court’s registry has received over 44 e-mails complaining about the violence.

The Division Bench led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam was hearing the matter. “Why couldn’t you control the law and order situation? Do you know, our Registrar has received over 44 plus emails highlighting the issue of violence, etc,” Chief Justice Sivagnanam reportedly remarked.

The Court on Monday had asked for a report concerning the violence that took place in various districts of the state during the elections. The SEC on Tuesday submitted a report stating that no illegality had taken place during nomination withdrawals and also stated that the entire process of withdrawal was videographed.

BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday approached Calcutta High Court requesting re-polling in 6,000 booths. According to news media reports, it is likely to be heard on Wednesday. Advocate Priyanka Tibrewal also approached the court on the alleged violence that took place in the panchayat election, the voting for which was completed on Saturday and the counting of votes were done on Tuesday.

The Left, too, filed a case in Court highlighting the incident in Howrah. The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam has assured to hear all the cases together. There were a bunch of PILs mentioned in Court alleging violence during counting, which took place on Tuesday.

On Monday, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had approached the court on the alleged violence that had taken place in different booths on the day of voting.

The High Court had ordered the Inspector General, BSF to file a report with regards to the violence which took place in various booths during the elections on July 8.

The Division Bench directed the state to ensure that all the injured victims are given the best treatment in the government hospitals. About the people, who lost their lives in the violence that allegedly occurred on July 8, the court directed that F.I.Rs have to be registered and post-mortem have to be performed.