New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday declined to interfere with a Calcutta High Court order directing the West Bengal State Election Commission to employ central forces for all districts in West Bengal for the upcoming panchayat polls.
“The fact remains that the tenor of the order of the High Court is ultimately to ensure that free and fair election is conducted in the entire state of West Bengal, since state is conducting election for local bodies on a single day and having regard to the volume of booths, which are being set-up,” a vacation bench of justices B.V. Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra said.
It dismissed the West Bengal government and state election commission’s appeal filed against the HC order. Reprimanding the poll body for filing the appeal, the bench said the state commission should not be bothered about the “source” of the forces, as its primary concern should be “free and fair conduct of elections.”
“We find that the (HC) order does not call for any interference. The SLP (special leave petition) stands dismissed,” the bench observed, while noting in the order that panchayat elections are to be held in over 75,000 seats for which nearly 61,000 polling booths have been set-up. The polls begin on 8 July.
Appearing for the state, senior advocate Siddhartha Agarwal submitted the HC had erred in issuing a blanket order for requisition of central forces, adding that this reflected negatively on the competence of the state police and created an impression that the local forces are not equipped to handle the situation.
Justice Nagarathna, however, was vocal in her support for the HC order and pointed out to Agarwal that the West Bengal government has, in the past, requisitioned forces from other states. This means the state itself has admitted that the local police force is inadequate.
The judge further mentioned about the past incidents of violence reported in the state during polls and said, “Elections cannot be accompanied by violence.”
“If persons are not able to file their nominations and if they are finished off while they are going to file it then where is the free and fair election?” the judge asked.
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‘Directions in aid of state election commission’
Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the state poll body, said it was for the election commission to assess the sensitivity of poll booths. The PIL was filed on 9 June, a day after the poll dates were notified. It was done without waiting for the state election commission to take steps with regard to security measures, she claimed.
According to her, the poll panel had written to the local police with respect to security arrangements. Hence, there was no need to file the PIL and for the HC to pass orders on 13 June, she said.
The senior lawyer explained the state poll panel seeks forces after it carries out an assessment of sensitivity. A preliminary assessment showed sensitivity in 189 poll booths, Arora told the court.
However, the bench questioned the challenging of the HC order and asked Arora as to why the body was aggrieved with it. “Why are you concerned? Whether the forces come from the Centre or neighbouring states, should you be concerned?” the court asked her. It then quoted the HC order to say that the expenditure for employing security forces would be borne by the central government and not the state.
“You can be rest assured with this kind of the order. Having regard to the past history of the state and what is happening on the ground, the HC entertained the matter,” the bench said. “The directions are in aid of the state election commission and you cannot have any grievance.”
Senior advocate Harish Salve appeared for BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari, who filed the PIL in the HC. He complained against the state election commission acting in a partisan manner, which, he added, was “evident from the manner it has filed the appeal (in SC) and supported the state government.”
“The agenda is not genuine concern of deployment but the agenda is that we don’t get central forces. They (state) are embarrassed to say that they do not want central forces, because they would not be under their control,” Salve claimed before the court.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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