Calcutta High Court to hear plea on EC transfer orders

Kolkata: A petition has been filed before the Calcutta High Court raising objections to a series of recent transfer orders issued by the Election Commission of India (ECI), which have led to wide-ranging changes in West Bengal’s administrative and police set-up ahead of the Assembly elections.

The Public Interest Litigation, moved by advocate Arka Kumar Nag, targets multiple directions issued between March 15 and 18, 2026. These orders resulted in the shifting of several senior functionaries, including the Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Home Secretary, along with a number of District Magistrates and Superintendents of Police.

The case is expected to be listed for hearing on Monday.

The petitioner has argued that the scale of the reshuffle, coupled with its timing just before the polls, has disrupted the state’s administrative continuity. It also highlights that many senior IPS officers from the West Bengal cadre have been assigned election-related duties outside the state.

While the ECI is empowered under Article 324 of the Constitution to supervise elections, the plea contends that such authority must be exercised within Constitutional limits. It alleges that the present actions are excessive and lack bona fide justification.

The petition also draws attention to the sequence of events preceding the transfers, suggesting that the decisions may have been influenced by factors unrelated to election management, including developments involving the Chief Election Commissioner.

According to the plea, the extensive reshuffle risks affecting governance and raises concerns about federal balance. The petitioner has sought judicial intervention to set aside the orders, calling them legally unsustainable.

Notably, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Thursday, wrote to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, expressing her concern over the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI). In her letter, she stated that it “has crossed all boundaries of decency and constitutional propriety”.

Expressing her concern over “arbitrary” removal of “more than 50” senior administrative officials and police officers by the ECI, Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee called the move a “political interference of the highest order”.

In her letter, the CM wrote: “I am deeply shocked by the functioning of the Election Commission of India (ECI), which, in my view, has crossed all boundaries of decency and constitutional propriety. Since the commencement of the so-called Special Intensive Revision, the ECI has acted with apparent bias, showing little regard for ground realities or the well-being of the people.”