Sec: Bengal poll wins will be subject to court orders on petitions: HC to SEC | India News

KOLKATA: The Calcutta high court on Wednesday directed West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC) to inform all elected candidates that their poll wins would be subject to the orders passed on petitions challenging the election process, reports Subrata Chattoraj. The HC also held that all steps taken by the SEC so far — from the conduct of the panchayat polls on July 8 to the declaration of results — would be subject to court orders.
The bench directed the SEC to file its response by July 24, and fixed the matter for hearing on July 26.
“The court is surprised to note that the state is not able to control violence even after the declaration of results,” a division bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya observed.
The bench directed the SEC, the state and the Centre to file affidavits on the complaints by July 18. “The responsibility to ensure that there is no breach of peace lies with the state. It becomes a serious matter if the state can’t do that,” the bench said. The court scheduled the next hearing on July 21. “The court is monitoring the election process. . . When the court is seized of the matter, it goes without saying that whatever has been done thus far (by the SEC) will be subject to the ultimate orders passed in this writ petition,” the bench ordered. “This aspect should be made note of by the SEC to all the candidates, who have been declared elected, and (they should be) informed that their declaration of having been elected is subject to further orders by this court,” the bench said.
Later in the day, a division bench of CJ Sivagnanam and Justice Uday Kumar, while taking note of a report from the BSF IG — the coordinator for central forces — that alleged “conscious non-cooperation” by the SEC and state authorities on force deployment and communication of sensitive booths, held prima facie that the deployment plan “was not adequate”.