Bengal Panchayat Election: Calcutta High Court reprimands SEC, directs deployment of 82,000 central forces

Kolkata. The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) of West Bengal to requisition over 82,000 central forces within 24 hours for deployment in the panchayat polls. A division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Uday Kumar, while hearing a contempt petition, also reprimanded State Election Commissioner Rajeev Sinha and said that if it is difficult for him to comply with the order, he can step down. Former Chief Secretary of the state, Rajeev Sinha is currently the State Election Commissioner.

The court noted that the SEC has sought only 22 companies of central forces for the proposed panchayat elections on July 8, which is a tiny fraction of the 82,000 central police personnel deployed during the 2013 panchayat polls in the state. The petitioner’s counsel submitted that a company consists of 80 workers, thus the total number of workers sought is around 1,700, which the court termed as ‘grossly inadequate’. The court also took note that the number of districts in West Bengal was 17 in 2013, which has increased to 22 at present, and the number of voters has also increased in these 10 years. The court directed the SEC to requisition over 82,000 central forces in 24 hours.

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The bench said during the hearing, ‘If it is very difficult for the (Election) Commissioner to implement the order, he can leave the post. Probably His Excellency the Governor can appoint someone else in his place. The court said that SEC is a neutral body and it does not need to follow anyone’s directions. The bench said that it is very unfortunate that no responsible officer of SEC was present in the court during the hearing on Wednesday as well.

A visibly upset Chief Justice said that if the SEC was so busy that it could not give instructions to its senior lawyers, “it would be better if they close the office”. The court directed that the number of companies of central forces to be sought should be more than that of the 2013 elections.

The court said that any attempt to make the order unworkable could have adverse consequences. The SEC’s counsel argued that whatever the court finds sufficient, it will be immediately demanded from the central government. The SEC’s counsel said that he has been instructed to immediately send instructions to the Center for whatever the court deems sufficient with respect to the central forces. The contempt petition alleged willful disobedience of court orders regarding the deployment of central forces for the panchayat elections. The high court had on June 13 directed the SEC to seek central forces for deployment in districts considered sensitive and assess the situation and deploy accordingly in other districts.

Expressing displeasure over the delay in compliance of the previous order, the court had on June 15 directed the deployment of central forces in all the districts. The SEC and the state government had moved the Supreme Court against the High Court orders, but the apex court dismissed their pleas. While hearing the contempt petition, the High Court said, “We have no hesitation in saying that the order and direction have not been followed in letter and spirit.”

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Tags: Calcutta high court, West bengal, West Bengal Election