Calcutta HC directs SEC to respond to plea seeking more time for filing panchayat poll nominations

 The Calcutta High Court today held urgent hearing in two PILs moved by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and BJP's Suvendu Adhikari regarding the

PTI, Kolkata Jun 9, 2023 : Observing that the time given for filing nominations for the West Bengal panchayat polls is prima facie inadequate, the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the State Election Commission to file its response to petitions by opposition politicians for extension of dates as also for deployment of central forces during the poll process on June 12.

The high court said that the State Election Commission (SEC) can fix a reasonable time for the candidates to file nominations for the three-tier panchayat polls.

“Prima facie we are of the view that the time limit fixed in the notification is inadequate,” a division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam said.

The SEC on Thursday announced that the polls would be held on July 8 and the last date for filing nominations is June 15.

The petitioners stated that around 75,000 seats are up for elections and that it is well-nigh impossible to hold the nomination exercise within these few days.

Lawyers appearing for the two petitioners in separate PILs – state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP – had pointed out that given that there were two holidays (June 10 and 11), there are effectively just five days to file nominations.

The court noted that the notification for the panchayat elections was published on Friday morning and that the nomination process was to start at 11 am on the same day.

“This, in our view, would appear to be hurrying up the process which needs to be reconsidered by the State Election Commission,” it said.

The court noted that the term of office of the current panchayat is to come to an end in August.

“Bearing this in mind, the State Election Commission can fix a reasonable time for the prospective candidates to file their nominations because it is insisted that nominations have to be filed in physical form,” the bench said.

The court directed the SEC to give its views on the concerns raised by the petitioners in the form of a report on June 12, when the matter will come up for hearing again.

On the prayer for deployment of central forces during the election process, the court said that it is for the SEC to decide on whether it would augur well to seek deployment of central forces so that the state police can work along with them to maintain law and order.

“We, therefore, call for the response from the State Election Commission on such issue,” the bench, also comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, said.

The court said that from the varied prayers sought in the PILs, it is able to decipher that the object of the petitions is not to stall the poll process, but their endeavour appears to be to ensure free and fair elections.

“The endeavour of the State Election Commission should be that there should be fair and free elections and the electorate should have confidence in the Election Commission that all will be done well so that they can peacefully exercise their franchise and elect their desired representative,” the bench said.

Noting that the petitioners claim that past instances do not give them confidence to file their nominations before the Block Development Officer of the panchayat concerned, the court said this issue can also be examined by the SEC.

The bench said that right from the stage of filing of nomination till the counting of votes and publishing results, the entire process should be videographed and the said video footage have to be protected and preserved and the duty lies with the SEC.

The court directed the SEC to consider the petitioners’ prayer for appropriate direction not to deploy contractual employees as election officers or to take part in the election process and address it in the report to be submitted on June 12.

Senior advocate S Guru Krishnakumar, appearing for Adhikari, prayed for allowing online submission of nomination and also at district magistrate offices in each district and the SEC office in Kolkata, claiming that past panchayat elections in the state, including the last one in 2018, were witness to intimidation of candidates and poll-related violence.

The 2013 panchayat polls in the state were held with the deployment of central forces during the election process.

Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee submitted that a high court order allowing online submission of nominations during the 2018 poll process had been set aside by the Supreme Court since that provision was not provided in the election rules and neither Parliament nor any state has amended the law in this regard.

The Chief Justice said that West Bengal, which has been a pioneer in several matters in the country, may set an example by introducing the provision.

Banerjee said that it is a step which has to be taken by the legislature.

Opposing the petitioners’ claim that the election date announcement was a hurried affair, SEC counsel Jishnu Saha submitted that the petitioners were aware that the polls were in the offing.

On the prayer for an extension of the last date of filing nomination, he said that this was the time given in the last panchayat polls also.

He, however, sought time till Monday from the court to get instructions from his client, the SEC, on the prayer for more time for filing nominations.