WB Panchayat Polls: Supreme Court Dismisses Suvendu Adhikari's Plea Challenging Calcutta HC's Order
|The Supreme Court today dismissed an appeal filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari challenging an order of the Calcutta High Court declining to interfere with the West Bengal panchayat poll process.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala asked how can it stop elections midway, when it is already scheduled.
"Interdicting an election is a serious matter and we cannot do that. We will not interfere. Sorry, Dismissed," the Bench said.
Senior Advocate P S Patwalia appeared for BJP MLA Adhikari who is the Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, while AG S.N. Mookherjee appeared for the State.
The Calcutta High Court on March 28 had refused to interfere with the West Bengal panchayat election process.
The Court was dealing with the plea against the notifications whereby various directives were issued to compute the population of the Backward Classes for the purpose of delimitation during the upcoming Gram Panchayat Elections. The petitioner had also challenged the issue relating to computation of population for the purpose of reservation of seats for SC/ST and Backward Classes.
The High Court had held that any interference at this stage in connection with the PIL filed by Adhikari may lead to the postponement of the panchayat elections in the state. The court left it to the State Election Commission to take a call on the points raised by the BJP MLA over such reservation of seats.
The High Court had found substance in the argument of the petitioner that the numerator and denominator in the case have been taken by adopting different yardsticks and that the estimate population figure for the two categories relate to different years.
The High Court also added that the Election Commission is expected to ensure that the object of the proviso to Sub-section 2 of Section 4 of West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973, the provisions of Sub-section 2A of Section 17 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Act, 2003 and proviso to Explanation II of Rule 22 of the West Bengal Panchayat Elections Rules, 2006 is not defeated.
Cause Title - Suvendu Adhikari v. State of West Bengal & Ors.
Click here to read/download High Court's Order
With PTI Inputs