Deploy central forces in all Bengal districts in 48 hrs: HC to SEC

The Calcutta high court Thursday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to requisition and deploy central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections in the state within 48 hours.

The court noted that no appreciable steps have been taken ever since an order was passed by it on June 13 to deploy central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process.

A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam directed the SEC to requisition the deployment of central forces for all the districts in the state which was rocked by violence over filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections.

The court asked the SEC to comply with the direction within 48 hours.

Noting that till date no effective steps have been taken to identify sensitive areas from the law and order point of view and in light of the SEC's submission that it may take a couple of days more to do so, the court said, "Waiting any longer will cause more damage to the situation and will not aid in protecting the purity of the election process."

The bench, also comprising Justice Uday Kumar, directed the central government to deploy the required number of central forces and that the cost of it will be borne by the Union government and no part of it will be charged to the state.

The court had on June 13 directed requisition and deployment of central forces forthwith in the areas and districts declared sensitive by the SEC.

The SEC was directed to thereafter review the assessment plan submitted by the state and wherever there is inadequacy of the state police force, paramilitary force will be deployed.

Opposition politicians, including Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari and Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, had petitioned the court for deployment of central forces for ensuring peaceful elections, claiming that the state had witnessed large-scale violence during municipal elections in 2022 and Kolkata Municipal Corporation elections in 2021.

They had also prayed for an extension of the last date of nomination claiming that the time given was not adequate. The court had left it to the SEC to consider the prayer.

The last date of nomination, as per the poll schedule notified by the SEC, was Thursday.

The bench on Thursday directed that 'Shiksha Bandhus' and voluntary resource persons under the School Education department, who the SEC has declared to be eligible to contest the panchayat election by notification on June 14, be given time for filing nomination till June 16.

The court directed the SEC to issue a circular that all officers assigned on election duty will display their identity cards prominently and would produce the same to any authority or observer on being asked to.

Earlier during the day, SEC counsel Jayanta Mitra submitted before the court that the commission has held meetings with the state's chief secretary and the DGP for the purpose of not only identifying the sensitive areas but also assessing the number of personnel that would be required so that requisition could be made to the Centre.

Opposition parties have been alleging that the ruling Trinamool Congress supporters resorted to violence to prevent their candidates from filing nomination papers.

Appearing for the state, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, however, submitted that more opposition candidates filed nominations for the three-tier panchayat polls than those of the ruling party till Wednesday.

He said that in panchayat samitis, 23,486 nominations were filed, out of which 17,120 are by the opposition candidates.

In zilla parishads, 2,877 nomination papers have been filed, out of which 2,463 are by the opposition, he stated.

Banerjee submitted that around 1,37,000 nominations have been filed for the village panchayats, out of which 94,124 are by the opposition.

He stated that the figures bring out the correct position in the state, claiming that nomination filing was going on peacefully in most places of the state.

He submitted that the police have taken steps and made arrests in places where violence has taken place.

Banerjee submitted that apart from the West Bengal police, forces have been requisitioned from Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Punjab and Tamil Nadu.