Law allows requisition of private vehicles for poll duty

Kolkata: Amid much controversy over the requisitioning of vehicles for election purposes, as per the Representation of the People (RP) Act, 1951, any kind of vehicle can be requisitioned by the administration.

However, the Election Commission resorts to private vehicles if the number of commercial vehicles already requisitioned is found to be insufficient.

According to the provisions of Section 160 of the RP Act, any state government, in connection with any election being held within the state, can requisition any vehicle for the purpose of transporting police personnel, officials and persons connected with the election process. To requisition any car, an order passed by authorised officials needs to be served upon the owner of the vehicle or the person in possession of the vehicle in a prescribed manner. To requisition a vehicle, the state government must pay a certain amount of money as compensation. Also, the duration of the requisition must be specified in the order and cannot be changed.

If any person does not want his or her vehicle to be requisitioned, then he or she will have to appeal before the District Magistrate, who is also the District Election Officer (DEO), with a valid reason. If the cause mentioned in the appeal is found to be justified, then the administration may choose not to requisition or may release the vehicle already requisitioned.

It may be mentioned that the controversy over the requisitioning of privately owned cars cropped up a few days ago after Tollywood actor Aritra Dutta Banik was stopped by a traffic cop at Rathtala crossing on B.T. Road with the intention of requisitioning his car. Banik alleged that despite his refusal, citing an order of the Calcutta High Court in 2006, the concerned police officer attempted to requisition his car.

Banik later filed a complaint with the Commissioner of Police (CP), Barrackpore, against the traffic cop, stating that he failed to show any order by the concerned authorities and attempted to requisition his car arbitrarily, citing Section 98 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and the 2006 Calcutta High Court order.