Kolkata, July 12: Holding that allegations made by the central force coordinator for West Bengal panchayat elections about alleged non-cooperation by the SEC and the state government are very serious, the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday directed them to file their response on the averments made by the IG of BSF.
The BSF IG, who is the central force coordinator, in a report before the court alleged non-cooperation on the part of the State Election Commission (SEC) and the state government.
The court said that on perusal of the report by the force coordinator, the allegations are found to be very serious, particularly against the SEC.
The division bench, presided by Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam, noted that the report has said that the support and response of the SEC and the state authorities have been found wanting on a number of occasions.
“If the allegations set out in the report ultimately turn out to be true, then it would be tantamount to a clear case of wilful disobedience of the order and direction issued by this court,” the bench said in its prima facie observation.
It was hearing contempt petitions alleging that the SEC had not implemented the high court’s orders regarding the deployment of central forces and ensuring free and fair elections.
The court had on July 4 directed the deployment of central forces in all polling booths in the state.
The high court had on June 21 directed the SEC to requisition more than 82,000 central forces personnel for deployment in panchayat elections, which would be more than what was deployed during the 2013 rural polls in the state.
The court said on Wednesday that it will take a decision after the SEC files its response to the report by the force coordinator. (PTI)
