HC Declines Urgent Hearing Plea Against EC’s BLA Directive

PTI, Kolkata, Aug 19, 2025 : The Calcutta High Court on Monday declined the urgent hearing plea of a Trinamool Congress leader against the decision of the Election Commission of India (EC) seeking names of Booth Level Agents (BLA) from political parties a year before the Assembly election for implementation of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral roll.

The bench of Justice Amrita Sinha was moved by ex-Rajya Sabha MP of Trinamool Congress, Subhashish Chakraborty.

During the mentioning, his counsel submitted that the matter challenges the directive requiring political parties to provide the names of booth-level agents a year before elections.

The counsel argued that the Election Commission has sought the names of BLAs from political parties since there will be implementation of the SIR in West Bengal.

“This means the BLA names have to be submitted by political parties before the election. Our contention is that BLA is not there in the rules or laws in the Representation of People Act, 1951. It is beyond the power of EC,” the counsel submitted.

He further argued that the directive infringes upon the secrecy and security of BLAs of political parties. “District Magistrates, who are the district-level election officers, are constantly asking political parties to submit the BLAs,” he added.

When the court asked how this was a matter of privacy, the counsel submitted that as per law, political parties appoint a booth-level agent only seven days prior to elections. “Now, we have to disclose a booth-level agent at least one year prior to elections,” he said.

With the judge pointing out that it is not just the petitioner’s political party who has been asked to submit names but all political parties, the counsel responded that it was the Trinamool Congress which had decided to assail the matter since other parties may have accepted it.

The court, however, refused to accept the plea for urgent hearing and did not upgrade the matter in the list.