SEC challenges HC order in SC

The State Election Commission on Wednesday appealed before the Supreme Court questioning the legality of the impugned Calcutta High Court order validating e-nominations — filed by aspirants who had failed to do so physically in face Trinamool Congress violence.

The Commission challenged the High Court ruling saying it was bad in law and was not commensurate to the relevant sections of the State Panchayat election act.

The Division Bench of Justices B Somadder and A Mukherjee of the High Court on Monday had relied on the IT laws and directed the SEC to accept the valid nominations, filed through e-mail by 3 pm on April 23, which was the extended date for filing nominations for the upcoming rural polls.

The order was passed on an appeal filed by the CPI(M) clearing passage for at least 800 such nominations filed electronically. The BJP soon claimed it also had about 2000 such nominations saying it would also move the Court on similar grounds.

Curiously the Commission, thus far held as a tool in Trinamool Congress’ hands had fixed the poll date on May 14 “in consultation” with the State Government keeping the commencement of Ramadan in view.

Its appeal in the Apex Court tended to push the fate of the elections in a limbo, experts said.

The poll panel also contended that the nominations were e-mailed by the candidates from other’s accounts which, was also not a valid way of filing such papers, sources said.

Sources in the CPI(M) which alongside BJP had filed a caveat in the Apex Court anticipating an appeal from the SEC and the State Government said it was unlikely for the candidates who hail from poorest of poor section of the society often working as farm labourers or domestic helps in villages to maintain e-mail accounts.

“The issue is whether the candidates are genuine or not,” a senior leader said adding the party had supreme faith in the Apex Court.

Meanwhile, in an alleged two-pronged attack on the Opposition parties the ruling Trinamool Congress apart from moving the Supreme Court via the SEC once again took recourse to strong-arm tactic threatening the candidates who had filed nominations through e-mails, the Marxists alleged.

“They have now started applying their old strategy of browbeating the opponents into silence. This is dangerous for democracy and will be fought firmly,” Suryakanto Mishra State CPI(M) secretary said.

In a related development attacking the Trinamool Congress regime for promoting untold violence in electoral politics Union Minister Harshvardhan on Wednesday said “never in the history of Indian elections such highly sophisticated rigging coupled with Government backed violence even at the level of filing nominations have been seen in the past.”

The BJP however was determined to take on the Trinamool Congress which would be defeated in its own game, the BJP leaders said.