Thus far on the ‘back foot’ in its battle for supremacy with an increasingly assertive Trinamool Congress Government, the West Bengal State Election Commission on Thursday got a major legal success. This even as a Calcutta High Court ordered established the supremacy of the commission in matters related to the conduct of elections.
The Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled that the commission had the ultimate power to take decisions on the conduct of the panchayat elections.
The commission’s decision was final, the court said, adding that it was the poll body that was to decide on the number of security personnel required for conducting the elections and not the Government adding the Government’s duty was only to provide the security forces asked by the commission.
The decision comes in the midst of rampant pre-poll violence in the nomination stage where the ruling party had thus far managed to win more than 7,500 seats uncontested.
The commission had earlier moved the court in the context of a previous order that said stipulated the number of security personnel for the polling booths and pre-poll arrangements based upon “consensus” between the two sides.
The commission expressed its reservations on the term “consensus” as mentioned by the court. The earlier order had put the commission on the back foot, insofar as making it dependent on the issues of forces and some other aspects
on the decisions of
the Government.
The court on Thursday re-established the supremacy of the commission much like the single bench order by Justice BP Samaddar given on May 10.
The Thursday’s orders would help the commission take steps against the erring officials of the Government who had thus been ignoring its directions, senior lawyers like Arunabha Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, State Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee, law Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya and Advocate General Bimal Chatterjee went into a meeting in the wake of the order, Government sources said.