The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Friday moved the Supreme Court against the Calcutta High Court's order that rejected its plea challenging the deployment of only central government staff at counting centers on May 4. The Mamata Banerjee-led party had challenged the poll duty assigned to central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employees as supervisors during vote counting.
High Court's Stance
The High Court told the TMC that appointing central or state officers as counting supervisors is the Election Commission's prerogative. It stated that if central officers are found to have manipulated counting and favored the BJP, the party can file an election petition. Earlier, the court had questioned why only central officers were being appointed, to which the Election Commission replied that the same practice was followed in Kerala.
Court Proceedings
Justice Krishna Rao, hearing the case, asked the EC, “If there is an objection, can the Election Commission not adjudicate? Why are you not going for the state government?” The High Court also pointed out that the statute allows the ECI to appoint employees from either the state government or central government and employees of PSUs for the role. EC counsel Dama Seshadri Naidu responded, “We have done that in Kerala. We have not singled out any state. As the situation demands, we do that.”
Senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee, appearing for the petitioner, questioned, “Do you disbelieve these state government employees? You have conducted the entire election with state government staff. Why are you adopting a discriminatory approach towards West Bengal? In all, 2,500 companies have been brought here. If even one company had been in Pahalgam, those 26 people would not have been killed.”
Justice Rao's Order
Justice Rao in his order said, “Section 100 of the Representation of the People Act provides that any noncompliance with the provisions of the Constitution or of this Act or of any rules or orders made under this Act shall be grounds for declaring an election to be void. Thus, if the petitioner finds that during counting, the central government employees appointed as counting supervisors and counting assistants favored the candidate of the BJP due to which the petitioner's candidate was defeated, the petitioner has the liberty to challenge the same in an election petition.”
Dismissal of Petition
The High Court also said while dismissing the petition, “It is the prerogative of the office of the Election Commission of India to appoint the counting supervisor and counting assistant either from the state government or the central government. This court does not find any illegality in appointing counting supervisor and counting assistant from the central government or central PSU employees instead of state government employees.”
The High Court further stated, “Only the counting supervisor and the counting assistants will not be in the counting room. Micro observers, counting agents of the candidates who are contesting the election, and counting personnel will also be in the counting room. Thus, it is impossible to believe the allegation made by the petitioner.”
The TMC's move to the Supreme Court underscores the ongoing political tension in West Bengal ahead of the counting of votes. The party has consistently raised concerns about the impartiality of central forces and officials in the state's electoral process.
