SC dismisses Suvendu’s petition to reassess SC, ST figures in Bengal

Kolkata: The Supreme Court, on Thursday, dismissed a petition by the BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari who had sought a re-assessment of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe figures in Bengal for the upcoming Panchayat elections.

A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala is learnt to have said: “Interdicting an election is a serious matter and we cannot do that. We will not interfere. Sorry, dismissed.” The bench remarked that it cannot stop authorities from holding elections.

This came as a blow to Adhikari who had approached the Supreme Court after being turned down by the Calcutta High Court which in its March 28 order refused to entertain his plea. His plea was in connection with the seat reservation criteria used for the polls.

In his PIL petition before the High Court, Adhikari had proposed that the current SC/ST population figure in West Bengal should be arrived at based on the household survey, as was the case for other backward classes (OBCs). The High Court had held that any interference at this stage in connection with the PIL filed by Adhikari may lead to the postponement of the panchayat elections in the state.

The court left it to the State Election Commission to take a call on the points raised by the BJP MLA over such reservation of seats.

Earlier, in December 2022, Adhikari had also moved the Calcutta High Court demanding an order directing the State Election Commission to deploy adequate Central force personnel to ensure a violence-free panchayat election in Bengal.

He had also sought an order appointing a retired judge of the court to monitor the upcoming Panchayat polls.