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The Calcutta Excessive Court docket on Tuesday ordered the requisition and deployment of central forces for the West Bengal panchayat elections scheduled to be held on July 8. The courtroom additionally left it to the discretion of the State Election Fee (SEC) to take a name on an extension of time for submitting of nominations, refusing to contemplate a prayer on this regard.
A division bench presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam directed the SEC to requisition central forces to work in tandem with the police drive of West Bengal for the agricultural polls. The 2013 panchayat elections within the state, the primary after the Mamata Banerjee authorities got here to energy, had been held with the deployment of central forces.
The excessive courtroom made it clear that the prayer for an extension of time for submitting of nominations, the final date of which is June 15, can’t be thought-about. The bench, additionally comprising Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, mentioned the discretion to increase the time lies totally with the SEC, and that it’s competent to take a choice on the matter.
The SEC had on Monday informed the Calcutta Excessive Court docket that it could prolong the final date of submitting nominations for panchayat polls in West Bengal by a day to June 16. The bench directed that on the first occasion, the requisition and deployment of central forces be completed within the areas and districts which were declared delicate by the ballot panel.
“Thereafter, the SEC shall evaluation the evaluation plan submitted by the state and wherever there may be inadequacy of state police drive, in all such areas the SEC shall requisition the deployment of paramilitary forces,” it mentioned. The fee has additionally been requested to put in CCTV cameras in any respect polling stations and the place it isn’t technically potential, videography of all the course of from nomination to counting of votes must be undertaken.
Refusing a prayer for appointment of a retired choose as observer for the panchayat polls, the courtroom mentioned provisions present for the fee to nominate observers, who might be officers of the state authorities to observe the conduct of the election. The SEC in a report earlier than the courtroom on Monday had said that it appoints observers from amongst senior state civil service and IAS officers.
The petitioners prayed for deployment of central forces for making certain peaceable elections, claiming that the state had witnessed largescale violence throughout municipal elections in 2022 and the Kolkata Municipal Company polls in 2021. The courtroom mentioned that the SEC, on preliminary evaluation, has marked a number of districts as delicate. The ballot panel had recognized seven such districts within the report.
The bench mentioned that the full variety of seats for which elections need to be carried out is greater than 75,000 and going by the previous incidents within the state, on greater than 12 events the excessive courtroom needed to intervene, directing deployment of central forces or transferring the case to the NIA. “We’re of the view that the SEC ought to and shall requisition the deployment of central forces to work in tandem with the police drive of West Bengal to make sure free and truthful elections,” it directed.
The excessive courtroom mentioned the costs in the direction of such deployment might be borne by the central authorities. The bench additionally refused a prayer for permitting the submitting of nominations on the workplace of the district magistrates, which was prayed for claiming lack of safety on the BDO places of work the place these are designated to be filed. The bench mentioned if contractual staff are to be deployed for election responsibility, they’re to be given duties decrease than the duties assigned to the polling officers, who’re chosen from the Group D employees.
Sustaining that security and safety of polling officers need to be of paramount significance to the SEC, the courtroom mentioned the course to requisition and deploy central forces will adequately guarantee their safety. It mentioned that wherever the central forces wouldn’t be deployed, it will likely be the duty of state police to make sure the protection and safety of the polling personnel. Showing for the state authorities, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee submitted that 15 battalions of police personnel have been requisitioned from different states.
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