West Bengal Government, SEC Jointly Approached SC Against The Deployment of Central Forces During Election

West Bengal Government, SEC Jointly Approached SC Against The Deployment of Central Forces During Election

The government of West Bengal and the State Electoral Commission on Saturday jointly suggested to the Supreme Court to challenge the deployment of the central forces.

The decision was made after senior officials from the State Electoral Commission and the government held a meeting with the State’s legal advisors on Friday.

The High Court of Kolkata had ordered the SEC to requisition and deploy central forces throughout West Bengal for the Panchayat elections in the state.

The division bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam had ordered the SEC to comply with requisition orders for all violence-ravaged districts over candidate submissions for the July 8 Panchayat elections. The hearing noted that no significant action had been taken since the order was passed on June 13.

Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, a congressman, were among the opposition leaders who went before the court to ask for the deployment of central forces to ensure free and fair elections.