Civic polls: Contempt of Court filed against SEC

KOLKATA: A contempt of court has been filed in the Calcutta High Court against State Election Commission in connection with Civic polls in four municipalities.

The case has been filed in the division bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava. The plaintiff questioned why the Commission did not comply with the High Court's order to postpone the polls in four municipalities - Bidhannagar, Chandannagar, Asansol and Siliguri the state for four to six weeks.

The civic election, which was earlier scheduled for January 22, has been postponed to February12 due to a sudden spike in Covid cases. The results will be released on February 14.

The plaintiff, Bimal Bhattacharya, had earlier sent a contempt of court notice to the Commission seeking an explanation as to why the pre-poll was postponed only three weeks after the Calcutta High Court's order. The plaintiff's question was on what grounds was the vote deferred by three weeks? "What is the argument of the Commission in this case?" he asked. The notice warned that reply should be given within seven days otherwise Contempt of Court will be filed.