Panchayat polls: Calcutta High Court orders deployment of Central forces in ‘sensitive’ areas

Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday ordered the requisition and deployment of Central forces for the West Bengal Panchayat elections scheduled to be held on July 8.

The court also left it to the discretion of the State Election Commission (SEC) to take a call on an extension of time for filing of nominations, refusing to consider a prayer in this regard.

“Considering the fact that the total number of seats for which the election has to be conducted is more than 75,000 and going by the past incidents wherein on more than 12 occasions the court had to intervene for directing deployment of Central forces or transferring the cases to the National Investigation Agency, we are of the view that the State Election Commission should and shall requisition the deployment of Central forces to work in tandem with the police force of the State of West Bengal to ensure free and fair elections,” the court directed. 

It further directed: “The State Election Commission shall forthwith send requisition of the deployment for the Central forces at the first instance for all the areas/districts which in the opinion of the State Election Commission have been declared as sensitive. Thereafter the State Election Commission shall review the assessment plan submitted by the state and wherever there is inadequacy of the state police force in all such areas also the State Election Commission shall requisition the deployment of para military forces.”

The charges towards such deployment shall be borne by the Central government and no part of it shall be charged to the state, the bench directed.

A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam directed the SEC to requisition Central forces to work in tandem with the police force of West Bengal for the rural polls.

The high court made it clear that the prayer for an extension of time for filing of nominations, the last date of which is June 15, cannot be considered.

The bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said the discretion to extend the time lies entirely with the SEC, and that it is competent to take a decision on the matter.

In addition to the deployment of Central forces, the court also ordered the SEC to install CCTV cameras at every booth and corner of the counting centres.

However, in polling stations where it is technically not feasible to install CCTV cameras, the entire process commencing from filing of nomination to declaration of results have to be videographed, the court directed.

In case the SEC is to requisition CCTV facility installed by the police department then the police department should share the link with the Election Commission so that the video footage can be viewed by the SEC and such recordings be saved in data files for future reference, it further directed.

The court also stated that the counting of votes for all three tiers of the Panchayat be conducted simultaneously and at the same venue. The rural polls will include polling for the Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samities and Zilla Parishads.

The court also refused to allow candidates to file their nomination forms through online mode or to submit their nomination papers before the District Magistrate.

Further, the court made it clear to the SEC that it should not allot any work beyond what is permissible to contractual workers, civic volunteers and even the NCC boys.

Finally, on the prayer for the protection of government servants, who will be deployed on poll duties, the bench said since paramilitary forces are ordered to be deployed, it will take care of the safety and security of the polling officers.

“Where Central forces aren’t deployed it would be the duty of the State Police to protect their lives. This direction must be implemented in letter and spirit without giving any room for laxity,” it stated.

On June 7, former Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha was appointed as the new State Election Commissioner, and the next day he announced the Panchayat election schedule. The election will be held in a single phase on July 8, with vote counting scheduled for July 11.