Nomination tampering case: State challenges single bench CBI probe order

Kolkata: The state government on Thursday approached a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, challenging the single bench’s order of a CBI probe into allegations that nomination papers filed by candidates of opposition parties had been tampered with by the returning officer.

The state government approached the High Court’s division bench of Justice Arijit Banerjee challenging the decision of Justice Amrita Sinha’s single-judge bench.

The matter is scheduled to come up for hearing again on Friday. The state requested a fast-track hearing of the matter.

The Single Bench of Justice Sinha had opined that since the allegations are against an officer who is acting according to the directives of the State respondents and is also responsible for conducting the election in a free and fair manner, it may not be possible for the State agency to act in an independent way. Hence, a CBI probe was ordered.

The court had directed the CBI to conclude its investigation by July 5 and to submit a report to the court on July 7, a day before the Panchayat elections are scheduled to be held.

The court had also ordered that the video recording made of the scrutiny process by the Panchayat Returning Officer, Uluberia I Block, be preserved and maintained till the same is re-scrutinised. The petitions were filed by two candidates from Uluberia in the Howrah district, namely Kashmira Bibi and Omja Bibi. They alleged in their petition that the nomination got cancelled at the scrutiny phase because of the alleged tampering of the documents.