Supreme Court to hear petitions challenging Calcutta HC order
Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to list an appeal by the State Election Commission (SEC) challenging the Calcutta High Court order directing it to requisition Central forces in all districts for the upcoming Panchayat polls.
It has been reported by the media that the state government has also filed an SLP in the matter, which will be heard along with the SEC’s appeal. The Vacation Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice MM Sundresh agreed to list the matter for hearing on Tuesday. The matter was mentioned by senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, who reportedly argued that the SEC can make an assessment of sensitive areas but cannot send requisition.
The State Election Commission has challenged two orders of the Calcutta High Court that were passed on June 13 and June 15 respectively. On June 13, the Division Bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam had directed the SEC to send requisitions for the deployment of Central forces in all districts, which have been declared sensitive. On June 15, the court directed the deployment of forces in all districts within 48 hours.
The Calcutta High Court on June 15 directed that on receipt of the requisition, the appropriate authority of the Central government will deploy the required number of Central forces personnel. Reiterating its earlier judgment, the court stated that the cost will be borne by the Central government and no part of it will be charged to the state.
The Division Bench had observed that the SEC had not taken “any proactive and diligent steps” to implement the directions issued by the court in the earlier writ petition. “Therefore, we are of the view that we will be well justified to issue appropriate directions which to our mind is absolutely essential in order to ensure free and fair elections. We wish to emphasise that a direction in this regard is required to be issued bearing in mind the electorate, the people of West Bengal, who will exercise their franchise in the ensuing election,” the Bench had stated.
