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West Bengal rural polls: Supreme Court approves of deployment of central forces
The court said elections cannot be a license to commit violence while junking the state government and the state election commission’s pleas against a Calcutta high court order in this regard
Elections cannot be a license to commit violence, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday as it approved of deployment of central forces for July 8 West Bengal panchayat polls and junked the state government and the state election commission’s pleas against a Calcutta high court order in this regard.
“The tenor of the high court order is to ensure that free and fair elections are conducted in the state since the state is conducting polls for all the booths on the same day. The order of the high court does not call for any interference. We are not interfering with any other direction of the high court too. All the appeals stand dismissed,” said a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra.
The bench emphasised that free and fair elections are a hallmark of grassroots democracy and that deployment of central forces across all districts will ensure decorum not only at sensitive but at all the polling booths.
“Elections cannot be accompanied by violence. If the candidates are unable to file nomination or if they are finished off while they are going to file it then where is the free and fair election?” The court noted both the state government as well as the state election commission were of the view that additional forces were required for proper elections but they resisted the high court order for requisitioning the central forces.
“Even according to you, the police forces are inadequate to deal with the situation and the 75,000 booths that you have in the state. That’s why you have requisitioned the police force from half a dozen neighbouring states...the high court must have thought why half a dozen states? Let central forces be brought in,” the bench told senior counsel Siddharth Bhatnagar, who appeared for the West Bengal government.
Bhatnagar pointed out that it may not be conducive for the state to have the central forces until July 8 when the voting takes place. The bench said that both the state and central forces will have to eventually operate in tandem for the purposes of a free and fair election.
“The bottom line is that additional forces will be required. You want it from neighbouring states but see the practicality of it...to have forces from 5-6 states instead of getting it from one source... Ultimately, the forces are only for the conduct of elections. It’s not that they will be across the length and breadth of the entire state. There will have to be coordination between the state and the central forces. That’s a matter to be considered as and when situations emerge. It’s not for the court to comment on this today.”
Senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, representing the state election commission, said the June 15 high court directive to the polling body for requisitioning the central forces was beyond the ambit of their jurisdiction. “Our task is to make an assessment and submit our requisition to the state government. It is then completely on the state government to choose whether they want forces from other states or from the Centre.”
The bench expressed dismay at the state election commission’s appeal. “Ultimately, it’s for you to conduct a free and fair election. The question is how are you aggrieved by this order? You yourself have asked for additional forces. Where do the forces come from, how are you bothered? How is your petition maintainable? The high court order is in fact in aid to discharging your responsibility...whether you have state forces or central forces or from other states, you cannot have any concern.”
Arora responded that her concerns were confined to the issue of jurisdiction. But the bench remained unimpressed. “You can in fact be rest assured that there will be free and fair election not only at sensitive booths but also at all other booths. ...having regard to the history of violence and past incidents, the high court entertained the petition and decided to pass these orders. You don’t have a reason to be aggrieved.”’
The high court on June 13 directed the state election commission to immediately requisition central forces and deploy them, especially in constituencies that the polling body has declared sensitive.
On June 15, it pulled up the commission for “dragging its feet” in requisitioning paramilitary forces from the central government. It directed the poll body to immediately send a requisition to the Union home ministry for all the districts in the state. It gave the state election commission 48 hours to comply with its directive. The order was passed on Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party leader Suvendu Adhikari’s petition.
Senior counsel Harish Salve, who appeared for Adhikari in the top court, questioned the “partisan” approach of the state election commission and the “mindset” of the state government. “If the state of West Bengal thinks that the presence of Union forces is invading the state, that mindset is something completely different. The state is either not ready to hold elections or doesn’t want it in a free and fair manner...the state election commission had no reason to rush to this court when the high court order is meant to facilitate polls in a free and fair manner.”
Senior counsel Maninder Singh appeared for one of the writ petitioners before the Calcutta high court. Senior counsel Vivek Tankha represented state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Both supported the high court order.
Hearing Adhikari and Chowdhury’s petitions, the high court on June 15 refused to extend the time for candidates to file their nomination papers. But it allowed the plea for the deployment of central forces amid complaints of violence. At least six people have died in a series of incidents in West Bengal since panchayat polls were announced on June 9.
