West Bengal Panchayat polls: HC tells SEC to accept nominations on WhatsApp
Calcutta High Court (File) Calcutta High Court (File)
The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to accept the nominations of nine panchayat poll candidates from Bhangar, who had sent their papers to the block development officer through WhatsApp.
It also cautioned the SEC that if the nominations are rejected, it would once again put a stay on the election process.
On Monday, the court had heard a plea by 11 candidates from Bhangar, who had complained that “armed hooligans” prevented them from reaching the BDO office. Candidates were given another day (Monday) to file nominations following an HC order directing the SEC to extend the date.
During the hearing, Justice Subrata Talukdar had directed the SEC to ensure that nominations of 11 candidates for Polerhat-II gram panchayat in South 24 Parganas district were filed, and it would be contempt of court if the order was not executed. The court had also directed the Commission to file a compliance report on Tuesday.
Following the order, the 11 candidates had gone to the treasury building in Alipore (the administrative office of South 24 Parganas district) on Monday, but were unable to file their nominations due to an alleged attack by Trinamool workers. However, nine of the 11 candidates sent their nomination papers through WhatsApp.
During the hearing on Tuesday, petitioner Sharmishta Chowdhury told the court that their nominations were in danger of getting rejected during the scrutiny process as they were not filed properly. As the petitioner pleaded for the court’s intervention, the HC directed the SEC to accept the WhatsApp nominations and ensure they do not get rejected.
HC refuses to intervene on extending deadline
The Calcutta HC on Tuesday refused to intervene in West Bengal panchayat poll process. It disposed of the Congress and BJP’s petitions seeking an extension to the nomination filing process. TMC lawyer Kalyan Banerjee said the court called the petitions “not entertainable”. State BJP general secretary Pratap Banerjee said they never wanted to stall the poll process. Congress leader Riju Ghoshal said the party would move the court’s division bench.
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