Observing that deployment of 22 companies of Central forces across 22 districts of the State was ‘thoroughly inadequate ‘ the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) to requisition within 24 hours sufficient number of Central forces to be deployed in all the districts and the number of battalions/ companies shall be not less that forces deployed in the 2013 panchayat elections.
“It [the deployment] has to be definitely more than the same [deployment in 2013] as the number of districts have increased and the number of electorate has increased since 2013,” the Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Uday Kumar said in the order. The court expressed hope that the order would be complied with in letter and in spirit and any “attempt to make the order unworkable may result in adverse consequences”.
The WBSEC had sought to deploy 22 companies of Central forces for the upcoming panchayat polls, whereas in 2013, about 825 companies of Central forces were deployed during panchayat polls. The court observed that 1.05 lakh State police and 82,000 Central forces were requisitioned by the WBSEC in 2013.
Court raises questions on independence of Commission
The Division Bench noted in the order that prima facie it had no hesitation in saying that earlier decisions and orders of the court had not been complied with in letter and in spirit and pointed out that it could not understand as to why the State Election Commission was “still not taking an independent decision in the matter”.
“It is interesting to note that WBSEC was the petitioner before the Supreme Court resisting the decision of the State of West Bengal in the matter of deployment of Central forces for the 2013 panchayat elections. If that was the manner in which the State Election Commission had acted in 2013, we are at a loss to understand what has happened to the independence and supremacy of the State Election Commission in the ensuing elections,” the order said.
During the proceedings, the court raised several questions on the role of WBSEC and asked should the court not doubt the independence of the Commission. The Bench observed that if the State Election Commissioner could not implement the orders of the Commission, he could step down and the Governor could appoint a new person. The court described the deployment relating to deployment of Central forces as “ sorry state of affairs.”.
SC upholds order to deploy Central forces
The High Court had on June 13 issued orders to deploy Central forces in sensitive areas during the panchayat polls. On June 15, the Bench directed that Central forces be deployed in all districts.
The WBSEC challenged the High Court order of June 15 before the Supreme Court and the petition was set aside by the top court on June 20. Hours after the order, the WBSEC requisitioned the deployment of one company of Central forces in every district in the State
The requisition of one company of Central forces which is roughly about 100 personnel and comes down to 80 active personnel for every district had prompted the Opposition parties to question the intent of the Commission as well as the impact on free and fair polls. The court orders on Wednesday came in response to hearing in contempt petitions filed by Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari and Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury alleging that the earlier orders of the court on June 13 and 15 were not complied by the WBSEC.
Meanwhile, during hearing of another matter relating to panchayat polls, Justice Amrita Sinha of Calcutta High Court said that if there was so much bloodshed and violence for holding panchayat polls then it was a matter of shame for the State. Justice Sinha wondered whether such an election should be stopped completely.
During the day, a CPI(M) worker who had sustained bullet injuries on June 15, while filing for nominations at Chopra in Uttar Dinajpur succumbed to his injuries. The 23-year old was undergoing treatment at a hospital in Siliguri. With the death, the number of people killed since the notification for panchayat elections on June 8 has climbed to eight. Panchayat elections for 73, 897 seats across 22 districts of West Bengal will be held on July 8.
