In Boost For Mamata, Supreme Court Says no Re-Election in Uncontested Panchayat Seats
The court had questioned the EC and state government over complaints by the BJP that other candidates were terrorised and stopped from filing nominations.
File photo of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee.
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New Delhi: In a major relief to Mamata Banerjee, the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Election Commission to notify winning candidates on uncontested seats in West Bengal Panchayat polls in which the Trinamool Congress had won mostly on over 20,000 seats uncontested seats.
Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayats, zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year.
The apex court had earlier restrained the EC from notifying winning candidates on uncontested seats.
The court had questioned the EC and state government over complaints by the BJP that other candidates were terrorised and stopped from filing nominations.
The West Bengal government had told the Supreme Court that the row over the recently concluded panchayat polls in the state has led to a "constitutional crisis" since the tenure of several Panchayats were over and new bodies have not been made functional.
The top court had on August 13 asked the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) as to whether it conducted any probe into the fact that a large number of seats in the local body elections in the state went uncontested.
The poll panel had argued that 33 per cent of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not "an alarming situation"
The panel had said that it cannot persuade political parties to field candidates and, moreover, it took prompt actions when it received complaints about panchayat elections and even held re-polls.
During the previous hearings, the apex court had expressed shock at the fact that "thousands and thousands" of seats in the recent West Bengal panchayat polls had remained uncontested, observing that these figures showed that grass root-level democracy was not working.
The West Bengal government had said that the panchayat polls cannot be set aside on the basis of "conjecture and surmises" of some political parties as no individual candidate has approached the court with the claim that he or she has been restrained from filing nomination papers.
The ruling All India Trinamool Congress party had contended that not a single candidate has approached any court with the grievance that he or she has been stopped from filing nomination papers.
Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayats, zilla parishads and panchayat samitis, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year.
The apex court had earlier restrained the EC from notifying winning candidates on uncontested seats.
The court had questioned the EC and state government over complaints by the BJP that other candidates were terrorised and stopped from filing nominations.
The West Bengal government had told the Supreme Court that the row over the recently concluded panchayat polls in the state has led to a "constitutional crisis" since the tenure of several Panchayats were over and new bodies have not been made functional.
The top court had on August 13 asked the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) as to whether it conducted any probe into the fact that a large number of seats in the local body elections in the state went uncontested.
The poll panel had argued that 33 per cent of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not "an alarming situation"
The panel had said that it cannot persuade political parties to field candidates and, moreover, it took prompt actions when it received complaints about panchayat elections and even held re-polls.
During the previous hearings, the apex court had expressed shock at the fact that "thousands and thousands" of seats in the recent West Bengal panchayat polls had remained uncontested, observing that these figures showed that grass root-level democracy was not working.
The West Bengal government had said that the panchayat polls cannot be set aside on the basis of "conjecture and surmises" of some political parties as no individual candidate has approached the court with the claim that he or she has been restrained from filing nomination papers.
The ruling All India Trinamool Congress party had contended that not a single candidate has approached any court with the grievance that he or she has been stopped from filing nomination papers.