Calcutta HC Refuses To Extend Last Date Of Filing Nominations For Bengal Panchayat Polls

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday refused to extend the last date of filing nominations for the July 8 panchayat polls in West Bengal.

"In areas where Central forces are not deployed, it should be the responsibility of the State Police. SEC should ensure the safety of the polling agents. SEC should and shall consider to requisition of deployment of Central Paramilitary forces for sensitive areas," the High Court said.

Advocate and Lok Sabha TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee said that the Calcutta High Court rejected Suvendu Adhikari's petition. "The first petition was setting aside the election process from the issuance of the notification under sections 42 and 43 and the second was regarding the change of the date of filing nomination for panchayat polls," he said.

Submitting a report on Monday before the bench, SEC counsel Jayanta Mitra stated that it can extend by a day from June 15 to June 16 the last date of nomination filing for the panchayat polls without disturbing the other announced dates, including the election on July 8.

The High Court had directed the SEC to file the report in the form of an affidavit on the petitions by state Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and leader of the opposition Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP.

Adhikari's counsel S Guru Krishnakumar submitted that the poll notification was made within a day of the new commissioner taking charge, questioning what kind of consultation could have taken place within such period with the state government for fixing the election date.