Elections To Remaining Municipal Bodies To Be Completed By May 2022: State Election Commission Informs Calcutta High Court

The Calcutta High Court on Monday took on record the affidavit filed by the State Election Commission disclosing the tentative time schedule for conducting the election of all the Municipal Corporations/Municipalities in the State. The Court was adjudicating upon a petition moved by BJP Sate vice-president Pratap Banerjee seeking direction to the West Bengal government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to hold municipal polls in the State in one phase.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj on the last date of hearing had sought response from the State government stipulating the time period within which the State government would hold elections to the remaining municipal bodies apart from the already notified Kolkata Municipal Corporation. On Monday, the Bench was informed by the counsel representing the State Election Commission that they had already initiated dialogue with the State government in this regard and that elections for the remaining municipalities would be held in 6-8 phases in the month of May 2022. 

The counsel representing the State Election Commission further apprised the Court that the consultation process with the State government in this regard is yet to be over.  Accordingly, the Bench took on record the response filed by the State Election Commission as well as the State government regarding the proposed time schedule for holding elections. 

Since the opposing parties were not given a copy of the response filed by the State Election Commission on time, the Bench adjourned the matter for further hearing to tomorrow i.e. on December 7. 

Senior counsel Pinky Anand representing the petitioner flagged an issue of concern on Monday by stating that the State Election Commission vide its affidavit had proposed to use EVMs without paper trails which is a violation of the directions laid down by the Supreme Court. To this the Bench stated that they would take up the grievance raised tomorrow. 

Background

Earlier, the petitioner had prayed before the Bench to hold an urgent hearing on the matter after claiming that the State government is mulling holding of elections to municipal corporations of Kolkata and Howrah.

In the plea, the petitioner contended that polls for all pending municipalities must be conducted together instead of prioritising only the polls for the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the Howrah Municipal Corporation. It was further pointed out to the Bench that elections to more than 100 municipal bodies in the State including municipal corporations of Kolkata and Howrah have been due for a long time.

The SEC had submitted an affidavit before the Court last week stating that it wants to hold elections to the municipal corporations of Kolkata and Howrah first as the number of double vaccinated people in these two cities is high. It had further stipulated that elections to other municipal bodies in the State would be held in phases later.

It may be noted that the State Election Commission which conducts municipal and panchayat polls in consultation with the State government has recently accepted the State's proposal to hold civic body elections in Kolkata and Howrah on December 19 and the last date for filing nominations will be on December 1. The counting of votes will take place on December 22. However, no dates have been announced for conduct of polls in other municipal bodies.

Currently, elections are pending in 112 municipalities of the State since 2020. The stipulated five-year term of elected representatives of these municipalities have ended in the last two years, however polls have not taken place due to the ongoing pandemic. The State government has recently passed a Bill to bifurcate Howrah Municipal Corporation but the Governor has sought clarifications on the legislation.

Case Title: Pratap Banerjee v. State of West Bengal and Ors