Publication Date : 15-05-2013
Calcutta High Court in India today directed the state government of West Bengal to hold a three-phase Panchayat (local government) poll and complete the entire process by July 15. The Division Bench of Justice Arun Mishra, Chief Justice, and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also dismissed the state election commission (SEC)'s plea for deployment of Central forces for overseeing the poll and held that the state government was free to meet any shortfall either with forces from neigbouring states or Central forces.
The state government was directed to announce the poll schedule in consultation with the SEC in three days. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, currently in north Bengal, welcomed the court’s decision and said the Panchayat polls will be held soon.
Demarcating the 57,590 booths for the Panchayat election into four categories--highly sensitive, sensitive, less sensitive and normal--the Division Bench spelt out the security arrangement. The court's order kept in view the submission of commission counsel Samaraditya Pal, seeking tight security at the polling booths and the state advocate-general Bimal Chatterjee's contention on providing common security on polling premises where several booths are located.
Two armed policemen and two constables were directed to be deployed in each of the "highly sensitive" booths, two armed policemen and a constable at the "sensitive" booths, while an armed policeman together with a constable will guard a "less sensitive" polling premises. An armed policeman will be on duty at a "normal" polling station.
Hearing an appeal by the state for the second day today against a Single Bench order, the court directed the names of the remaining 134 observers out of 400 asked for by the commission be provided by the state within three days. The commission counsel submitted that as election must be held, it would not oppose officers of the rank of assistant secretaries acting as observers.
The court did not consider the portion of the order of the Single Bench dealing with the ambit of Section 42 of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act and held it cannot be held as a precedent in other cases.
The commission had moved the Single Bench challenging the state's notification of Panchayat election in two phases contending that it was unilateral and sought 800 companies of Central forces for holding the Panchayat elections in a "free, fair and peaceful" manner.
On May 10, Justice Somadder directed that the Panchayat election in the state be held in three phases using Central forces on dates decided by the SEC.
The Division Bench asked the commission counsel whether there were looting of ballot boxes and polling booths in the 2008 rural polls. "That is our concern", the court observed and further asked the commission counsel how many offences had taken place in the polling booths in the 2008 rural polls.
"This is not about law and order, but it has to do with the perception of a citizen if he feels he is safe to vote,” the court observed after the advocate general submitted that the law and order had improved a lot and yet the commission was worried about it.
Contending that the commission had sought 800 companies of Central paramilitary forces for the rural polls without assessing the ground reality on 27 September last year, the advocate-general submitted that the SEC had sought to know the situation in the districts from the district magistrates and superintendents of police in February. A reminder followed in March. A considerable section of the polling booths is sensitive requiring larger deployment of armed personnel, Pal submitted. The deaths and incidents of violence in the 2008 rural polls indicate the necessity of Central forces to supervise this year's rural polls. Law and order is certainly a state subject but the Supreme Court and the Constitution have spoken in one voice that the Election Commission's view will prevail in poll matters, Pal submitted. It is to be kept in mind that if anything untoward occurs during the election, it will be laid at the commission's door.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee said at Bagdora she was happy that "the hurdles" were finally removed. “It is clear that the Panchayat poll would be held soon. We have been insisting since last September that the poll be held at the earliest. We wanted the polling which was why we hadn't gone to the court. It would have been better had the Panchayat poll been held during last winter. It will be somewhat difficult to hold the poll during monsoon, but we are ready,” she said.
State Panchayat minister Subrata Mukherjee welcomed the court verdict which he termed as "historic" and said the state government would take necessary measures to hold the poll. "The directive has thwarted the conspiracy hatched by the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), the Congress and the BJP to delay the poll," Mukherjee said adding that the government was very happy with the directive and as such the question of moving the apex court didn't arise. "It is the victory of the people and the order will set an example before other states. I will discuss with the chief minister and draw up the poll schedule," he said.
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