The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday said the panchayat elections in West Bengal and the declaration of results “will be subject to” the “ultimate orders” that it may pass in connection with petitions filed on poll-related violence and “electoral malpractices”.
The division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to inform the winning candidates that their election “is subject to further orders to be passed by this court”.
Saying that the court has been “monitoring the entire process”, the Bench also expressed displeasure over the SEC’s response so far.
“When the court is seized of the matter, it goes without saying that whatever has been done thus far, that is for the conduct of the elections and the declaration of the results, will be subject to the ultimate orders that may be passed in these writ petitions. This aspect should be made note of by the State Election Commission to all the candidates who have been declared elected, and inform that their declaration of having been elected is subject to further orders to be passed by this court in these writ petitions as well as in the connected matters,” it said.
Leader of Opposition in Assembly Suvendu Adhikari and BJP leader and advocate Priyanka Tibrewal have filed separate petitions on poll-related violence and alleged electoral malpractices, seeking a probe by an independent agency.
“The court is surprised to note that even after the declaration of the results, the state is not able to control the violence which has erupted in several places. Various allegations have been made in all the three writ petitions as to how the liberty of the citizens has been compromised and the police have not been extending a helping hand to the innocent citizens, who are being affected even after the declaration of the results. The responsibility to ensure that there is no breach of peace lies with the state government. If the state government is not in a position to safeguard its citizens, then it is a very serious matter to be taken note of,” it said.
“In light of the above, we direct the SEC, the appropriate authority of the state government, and the appropriate authority of the respondent/ central government to file their affidavits dealing with all the allegations which have been made in all the three writ petitions and the court will consider as to what relief the petitioners are entitled to in these writ petitions. The affidavits directed to be filed by the respondents shall be filed not later than July 18, 2023,” it said.
The petitioners told the court that 6,000 booths should undergo re-polling. “The State Election Commission in its response… shall also deal with the instances which have been pointed in the video footage as well as in the documents that may be served upon them,” the Bench said.
“The petitioners are uniform in their submissions expressing serious apprehension as regards preservation of the ballot papers and the other records concerning the election as well as the CCTV footage. The State Election Commission is duty bound to preserve all records concerning the election including the CCTV footage, and it shall be solely responsible for the safety and security of all the records and the video footage. This direction shall be scrupulously adhered to,” it said.
The matter has been listed for hearing on July 20.
“The court has made certain observations after taking into account the points which we had raised. I welcome the court’s observations,” said Adhikari.
“The court said the election results will be subject to orders passed by it. This means that if the allegations of violence and electoral malpractices are proven true, this result could be declared null and void. But that is subject to further orders from the court,” said Tibrewal.
There was no immediate reaction from the Trinamool Congress.
Meanwhile, the HC on Wednesday dismissed petitions seeking that the panchayat elections be declared void due to non-compliance of basic principles of the Constitution and the statute to ensure free and fair polls.