Court nod for May 14 poll but riders keep government, SEC on toes

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, in separate orders on Thursday, ended the prevailing uncertainty on Bengal’s rural polls and allowed the State Election Commission to hold a one-day panchayat vote on Monday, May 14. But the orders have come with riders that will keep the SEC and the state government on their toes and have the potential to blow up in their faces at a later date if the voting does not go smoothly.


A relieved SEC did not waste any time, announcing on Thursday evening—hours after the two orders—that the poll was on schedule and votes would be counted next Thursday, on May 17; it also started deploying security forces in the districts for Monday’s poll.

But the relief came at a price. The Calcutta HC said it would hold responsible the officers who drew up the security plan for Monday’s poll and the SEC, which endorsed that plan, if things went wrong. The officers concerned and the state government would have to pay damages for any lapse in security if the loss of life and damage to property was more this time than seen during the 2013 panchayat polls, the HC said.

The SC ordered an interim stay on a Calcutta HC order, which had allowed nominations mailed to the SEC after the latter had closed the process, making things easier for the SEC.

Candidates, mostly from opposition parties, who mai-led their nominations to the SEC, will not be able to contest Monday’s vote but will have to wait till the SC takes up the matter for hearing on July 3. The apex court agreed with the SEC that no court could interfere with the election process after the SEC had announced the poll date.

‘Court can’t interfere after election date declaration’

“How can the HC interfere in the election process, introduce email nominations and order acceptance of such electronically filed nominations without scrutiny?” the bench asked and stayed the HC order.

But this relief for the SEC, too, was accompanied by a bitter pill. The apex court directed the SEC not to issue the winners’ gazette notifications for candidates who won walkover victories because of lack of opposition. More than 17,000 seats — or 34% of the total — have seen uncontested victories this time (compared to 6,000 in 2013). The SC could not hide its surprise over this huge proportion of uncontested winners and ordered the SEC not to “notify the results (for) constituencies where there has been no contest without the leave of this court”.

“The SEC and its functionaries shall see to it that the election is held in absolute fairness, keeping in view the concept of purity of an election in a democracy,” the bench of CJI Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.

But it was the Calcutta HC order, fixing collaterals for the SEC and state government officials, which might have them more worried. A division bench led by Chief Justice Jyotirmay Bhattacharya held officers who drew up the security plan and the state election commissioner liable in person for security lapses if the loss of life or damage to property exceeded that seen during the 2013 panchayat polls.

The compensation directive had two parts, the first about the government paying damages and the second about officials paying compensation. The court made it clear that the compensation to the victims’ families would have to be realised from the salary of the official/s responsible, or even their retirement benefits and their properties, if they were found to have submitted misleading reports to the court. The same went for the state election commissioner, who would have approved of such reports consciously. The government will have to pay the remainder of the compensation if the money recovered from officials is less than the compensation amount.

This clause, however, will not be applicable if the extent of violence and loss of lives this time is less than that of the five-phase 2013 poll; then, only the state government will have to pay compensation. “We expect that the SEC shall leave no stone unturned to ensure a free, fair and peaceful election,” the bench observed.

Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee welcomed the orders. “What has happened is good for democracy and the people of Bengal. Let there be peaceful polls,” she said.

The opposition parties kept their fingers crossed. “We can only hope that the SEC comes out of the state government’s clutches and discharge its duties the way the court wants,” CPM leader Rabin Deb said. BJP state president Dilip Ghosh expected the SC to finally allow e-filing.