In the morning on Wednesday, as the hearing began, TMC MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee cited court rulings and said that the court had not right to interfere in the election proceedings.
As the hearing regarding the West Bengal Panchayat election continued on Wednesday at Calcutta High Court, CPI(M) lawyer Bikash Bhattacharyya said that the State Election Commission (SEC) was not exercising its power and was rather acting on behalf of the West Bengal state government. Hearing will continue on Thursday at 10.30 am.
"The SEC is a Constitutional body and people can go to it for justice. It is the duty of the SEC to ensure free and fair election, but it could not carry out its responsibilities fully and that is why political parties had approached it several times, and that is why the Supreme Court had directed the SEC to address their grievances," Bhattacharyya said.
He also alleged that there was no coordination between the state and the SEC. "On March 31, there was an all-party meeting at the SEC office, but there was no mention of the date of election and suddenly within 24 hours of the meeting the date of election was announced. Besides, by keeping May 1 as one of the election days, people's democratic rights have been encroached upon," he said.
In the morning on Wednesday, as the hearing began, TMC MP and lawyer Kalyan Banerjee cited court rulings and said that the court had not right to interfere in the election proceedings. He also said that there was no specific complaint by the BJP regarding violence and that what they had said was 'vague'.
After hearing both sides the court observed that if the SEC went beyond the election, who would rectify it.
Accusation
- CPI(M) leader Bikas Bhattacharyya told the Calcutta High Court that the State Election Commission was acting on behalf of the West Bengal state government
- The court hearing will continue on Thursday at 10:30 am.
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