WB panchayat polls: SC to pronounce order on BJP’s plea on April 9

Satya Prakash

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Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 6

The Supreme Court on Friday reserved its orders on West Bengal BJP’s plea accusing workers of the ruling TMC of not allowing its candidates to file their nomination papers for the panchayat polls in the state scheduled next month.

“We are reserving verdict for April 9,” said a Bench headed by Justice RK Agrawal after hearing arguments advanced by senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi on behalf of the West Bengal unit of the BJP, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for the Centre and senior counsel Abhishek M Singhvi for the West Bengal Government.

In its petition filed on Thursday, the West Bengal BJP unit has demanded extension of the last date of nomination and online availability of nomination papers. It also demanded police protection for its candidates and deployment of central paramilitary forces for peaceful panchayat polls.

The last date of filing of nomination papers for the panchayat polls is April 9 and the last date of scrutiny of the nominations April 11. Polling is to be held on May 1, 3, and 5. Counting of votes will take place on May 8.

Rohatgi alleged that “democracy is being murdered” in West Bengal as BJP candidates were not being allowed to file their nomination papers and there was large-scale violence against them.

West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had moved the Calcutta High Court with the same prayer as Congress candidates are also not being allowed to file their nomination papers, Rohatgi submitted.

“Both the BJP and Congress, which are arch-rivals, are aggrieved with the nomination papers not being allowed to be filled up. It is a rare case where both BJP and Congress are on the same page,” Rohatgi said.

Mehta said the Centre could deploy paramilitary forces only if there was a requisition from the State Election Commission or a direction from the court.

Singhvi said the BJP’s petition was based on a wrong premise as there were several districts in which BJP candidates had filed more nomination papers than those from ruling TMC. The BJP should have first approached the State Election Commission, which should have approached the Calcutta High Court, he submitted.

On behalf of the West Bengal BJP, advocate Aishwarya Bhati had on Thursday mentioned the petition before a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and had drawn the court’s attention to the recent murder of a Dalit BJP leader allegedly by TMC workers.

Block development officers appointed by the state election commission as assistant panchayat electoral registration officers were refusing to hand-over nomination forms to BJP candidates, the petition alleged.