E-Paper
Bengal panchayat elections: Supreme Court junks pleas against order on central forces
Conduct of elections cannot be a license to commit violence, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, as it approved of deployment of central forces for the upcoming panchayat elections in West Bengal.
Conduct of elections cannot be a license to commit violence, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, as it approved of deployment of central forces for the upcoming panchayat polls in West Bengal and junked the petitions filed by the state government and the state election commission (SEC) 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,” recorded a bench of justices BV Nagarathna and Manoj Mishra in its order.
While hearing the appeals filed by the Mamata Banerjee-led government and SEC, the bench emphasised that “free and fair elections are a hallmark of grassroots democracy” and that deployment of central forces across all districts of the state will ascertain decorum not only at sensitive booths but at all the booths in the state.
“Holding elections cannot be a license to commit violence. Elections cannot be accompanied with 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 bench asked the state government and the election commission.
The court also took note of the fact that both the state government as well as SEC were of the view that additional forces were required for proper elections in the state, 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,” it told senior counsel Siddharth Bhatnagar, who appeared for the Bengal government.
While Bhatnagar sought to point out that it may not be conducive for the state to come under the central forces until July 8, when voting has to take 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,” it added.
On her part, senior counsel Meenakshi Arora, representing SEC, rued that 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,” she argued.
The bench, however, expressed dismay at the poll 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,” it told Arora.
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 elections not only at sensitive booths but also at all other booths. Conduct of elections cannot be a license to violence. However, 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,” it retorted.
The Calcutta high court had on June 13 directed that the state election commission immediately requisition central forces and deploy them especially in constituencies that the polling body has already declared to be sensitive.
Later, on June 15, it pulled up the commission for “dragging its feet” in requisitioning paramilitary forces from the central government and directed the poll body to immediately send a requisition to the Union ministry of home affairs for all the districts in the state. It gave SEC 48 hours to comply with its directive. The order was passed on a petition filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Suvendu Adhikari.
Senior counsel Harish Salve appeared for Adhikari in the top court, questioning the “partisan” approach of SEC and the “mindset” of the state government. “If the state of West Bengal thinks that 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,” he submitted.
Welcoming the top court’s order, Adhikari tweeted: “The Hon’ble Supreme Court of India realised the vile and sinister design of the State Election Commission acting in connivance with the State Government in ensuring that Panchayat Elections are reduced to a mockery of Democracy and skirmish…I am grateful to the Hon’ble Apex Court and welcome the orders passed today in aid of restoring Democracy in West Bengal.”
Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said he is confident that the ruling party will win the elections. “Why just central forces, even if the Centre deploys the military, TMC will defeat the Opposition with the people’s support. They should deploy central forces in such large numbers that the Opposition will not be able to give any excuse after losing the polls,” he said.
Senior counsel Maninder Singh also appeared for one of the writ petitioners before the high court while senior counsel Vivek Tankha represented state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Both supported the high court order.
Hearing the petitions filed by Adhikari and Chowdhury, the high court had on June 15 refused to extend the time for candidates to file their nomination papers in the upcoming panchayat elections, but it allowed the plea for deployment of central forces in the wake of complaints against violence in the state.
There has been a series of violent incidents in West Bengal ever since panchayat polls were announced in the state on June 9, taking the toll to at least six in the last nine days. Voting is scheduled for July 8.
