In what is being considered a major embarrassment for the ruling Trinamool Congress, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the Bengal Government to strictly follow its May 21 orders by supplying requisite number of security forces to the State Election to ensure free and fair panchayat elections.
Accordingly the Government would have to arrange for at least 1.46 lakh police personnel including about 90,000 armed policemen. This, in addition to 321 companies of armed forces during the filing of nominations.
Amid a cold war for supremacy between the Commission and the Government that had finally reached the High Court the SEC had notified a three-phase panchayat poll on July 2, 6 and 9 in accordance to the court order directing the two sides to conclude the poll process by July 15.
Hearing a petition against the Government for non-compliance of the court order the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arun Mishra and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the Government would have to ensure requisite number of police personnel for smooth conduct of poll process.
Apart from this the court directed the authorities to ensure that all the aspiring candidates could file their nomination without obstruction. The court also asked the Government to make available the name of observers to the SEC.
Ruling that the Commission’s authority could not be doubted in conducting polls the Chief Justice said, “There is no dispute that the SEC is in charge of holding the elections and its authority cannot be doubted.”
The court order came in response to a petition filed by the Commission that claimed that the shortage of security forces was hindering poll process in as much as the candidates were failing to file nominations in the nine districts that were going to polls in the first phase.
State Panchayat Minister Subroto Mukherjee who had earlier vehemently opposed the Commission proposal for 800 companies of central forces went into a huddle with officials to explore ways in order to make available the requisite number of forces.