Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, June 20: In a major setback to the Mamata Banerjee government in West Bengal, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) raising objections to the Calcutta High Court’s order asking the poll panel to deploy central forces during the panchayat elections due on July 8 to ensure peaceful polling in the state.
Noting that panchayat elections are to be held to a mammoth 75,000-odd seats and 61,000 polling booths have been set up, the top court said the High Court order was passed to ensure free and fair polls.
“The fact remains that the tenor of the order of the high court is ultimately to ensure that free and fair election is conducted the entire state of West Bengal, since state is conducting election for local bodies on a single day and having regard to the volume of booths which are being set up. We find that the order of the HC does not call for any interference. SLP stands dismissed,” a vacation bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Manoj Misra said, dismissing the appeals.
The court also quizzed the SEC, asking why it should have a problem with the high court order, which was ultimately in aid of the discharge of the commission’s responsibility to hold free and fair polls.
Justice Nagarathna told the state and SEC that “the reason as the HC I think has recorded, 2013, 2018, there has been a history…Holding election cannot be a licence for violence…Therefore to hold a free and fair poll…We must appreciate that you are one of the states where we have a democratic setup right up to the lower levels and grass root level elections are taking place. But at the same time, elections cannot be accompanied by violence. If persons are not able to go and file their nomination or if those who have filed their nominations are ultimately finished off, or there are group clashes, where is free and fair elections?”
“The local polls have to be held in a single day. Under these circumstances, the HC was justified in its order to requisition Central security forces,” it said. The High Court had on June 15 directed the SEC to requisition and deploy Central forces across West Bengal for the panchayat elections within 48 hours.
The court had noted that no appreciable steps had been taken ever since it passed an order on June 13 to deploy Central forces in sensitive areas for the poll process. The High Court had directed the SEC to requisition Central forces for deployment in all the districts of the State that were rocked by violence during filing of nominations for the July 8 panchayat elections.
The state government complained that the high court had directed the deployment of forces in all districts “irrespective of whether sensitive or not, as if the entire force of state of West Bengal is inadequate and incompetent”. The counsel appearing for the state added that the high court was told that the state had requisitioned forces from five different states including Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
Justice Nagarathna said this showed that “even according to you, the police force as of now is inadequate to meet the situation. Therefore you have requisitioned police force from half a dozen states. What the HC has done is instead of requisitioning from half a dozen states, let the central police force come. Ultimately the HC has said that expenditure will be borne by Centre and not by state…61,000 odd booths are going to polls. You have in a way said due to inadequacy of police force, to conduct polls in free and fair manner, you have yourself requisitioned additional police forces”.
The state said of the 61,636 polling booths, only 189 have been identified as sensitive and the state has more than 50,000-60,000 police personnel who are capable of being deployed. “Additionally there are 8,000 freshly recruited constables…The implication for calling additional forces is never to say what the state has is inadequate,” it said, adding the additional forces are only as an insurance, in case some situation develops in some area.
On the point that there has been a history of violence accompanying polls in the state, the state counsel said sometimes facts and figures are different from impressions.
Senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, appearing for the SEC, said the first petition seeking central forces was moved before the high court on June 9 and asked what was the need for it when the commission was going about the process.
Taking exception to the high court order, she said it is not within the domain of the SEC to requisition any central or state forces. “That is always done by the state. SEC can only make a request to the state government which is required to comply with that”, she said. Secondly, forces have to be deployed in the booths, not the whole district, she added.
Explaining the arrangements put in place by the commission to ensure free and fair polls, the senior counsels said that this time, it had also deployed IAS officers as special observers in every district.
The alleged violence during the filling of nominations for the panchayat polls had renewed the strife between the ruling Trinamool Congress and the governor CV Ananda Bose after the governor set up a separate control room at the Raj Bhavan to register “complaints of violence connected with the panchayat elections.”
The Governor’s initiative evoked strong reactions from Trinamool Congress leadership. Trinamool Congress spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said the Governor was behaving like a BJP cadre. Party MP Santanu Sen said Bose had started following his predecessor, Jagdeep Dhankhar. The Governor refused to make any comments on the remarks by the Trinamool leaders. The CPI(M) State Secretary Md. Salim said the Governor should summon the Chief Minister, State’s Chief Secretary and the State’s Election Commission instead of setting up a control room.
The ‘peace room’ was set up following the Governor’s visit to Canning and Bhangar areas in the State which are affected by the violence, and met with the locals there. Despite criticism an unfazed governor claimed that within a day of its opening, the control room set up at the Raj Bhavan in Kolkata to register grievances relating to the panchayat polls received more than 300 complaints.
Bose said the complaints received would be forwarded to the State government and State Election Commission. On Monday, Mr. Bose met the officials at the control room and urged them to speak with compassion to those reaching out, but not make any commitments to them. Speaking to reporters later, the Governor said the ‘peace room’ was necessary as certain misguided elements had opened up ‘war rooms’ in different parts of the State.
When asked why the Governor had intervened in the electoral process, Bose said he was performing his duty and pointed out that the oath he took as the Governor of the State also says that he has to ensure the well-being of the people of West Bengal.
“People of West Bengal are demanding that there should be free and fair elections. If there is any threat to them, I will intervene. All the stakeholders, the people, the government, the State Election Commissioner and the Governor have to play their role together. The Governor’s role has to be a bridge between the government and the governed,” he said.
Bose said there had been allegations that many of those who wanted to contest the polls were not allowed to file nomination papers by “musclemen.” Around ten employees of the Raj Bhavan are engaged in the functioning of the ‘peace room’. Citizens can approach them by sending an email or reach out on telephone.
Among those who made the call to the helpline number was Raju Bista, the BJP MP for Darjeeling, who alleged that there was a threat to his life. The complaint was forwarded to the State Election Commission, which in turn sent it to Superintendent of Police, Darjeeling. Officials at the ‘peace room’ said they received complaints from Trinamool Congress supporters as well.
The state BJP president Sukanta Majumdar visited the Raj Bhavan on Monday along with candidates who have allegedly been threatened during the poll process. The violence, which started after the notification for panchayat polls was issued on June 9, has so far claimed seven lives in the State. Elections to nearly 73,897 seats (63,239 gram panchayats, 9730 panchayat samitis and 928 zilla parishad seats) in the State will be held on July 8.