Calcutta High Court Declines BJP's Plea To Stay Kolkata Municipal Elections [Read Order]

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday refused to stay the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation Elections pursuant to the plea 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. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation election is scheduled to be held on December 19. 

A Bench comprising Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bhardwaj also directed the State government and the State Election Commission to disclose to the Court the tentative time schedule and the minimum phases required for holding elections to the remaining municipal bodies.

"Respondent Nos. 2 and 3 are directed to disclose to this Court, without any further delay, minimum phases in which the elections for the remaining Municipal Corporations/Municipalities in the State will be held and the tentative time schedule giving earliest dates for holding such elections. We expect that respondent Nos. 2 and 3 will take a decision in this regard keeping in mind their responsibility to uphold democratic principles and to carry out the mandate of the Constitution", the Court observed. 

The Court further observed that although vide a detailed order dated December 1, the State as well as the Election Commission had been directed to disclose the tentative time schedule for conducting the elections of all the Municipal Corporations/Municipalities in the State before the next date of hearing i.e. on December 6, however so far no such time schedule has been disclosed. 

Opining that elections to the remaining municipal bodies must not be unnecessarily deferred, the Court further observed, 

"Instead of disclosing the time schedule for holding the elections in the Municipalities/Municipal Corporations in the State, a vague plea has been raised..that depending upon the various factors like Covid situation, school examination, festivals such as Makar Sankranti, Ganga Sagar Mela, introduction of Omicron etc., the time schedule will be decided. Once the decision has been taken by the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 to hold the elections for Kolkata Municipal Corporation on 19th of December, 2021 prevailing the same factors then elections of other Municipalities should not be unnecessarily deferred. In this regard, the plea of the petitioners that the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 are unnecessarily delaying the other Municipal/Municipal Corporations elections in the State cannot be ignored."

The Court further underscored that the elections in these Municipalities fell due much before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and as a result, the State and the Election Commission are not justified in using the pandemic as a justification for not holding the elections in these Municipalities within time. Reliance was also placed on the Supreme Court judgment in Kishansing Tomar v. Municipal Corporation of the City of Ahmedabad and Others wherein the Apex Court had held that the period of 5 years fixed under Article 243-U of the Constitution to constitute the Municipality is mandatory in nature and has to be followed in all respect. 

On an earlier date of hearing, the Bench had been informed by 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. On Wednesday, the Bench observed that such a plea is 'not supported by any cogent material' because the Election Commission back in 2015 had conducted elections of 91 municipal bodies in one phase. 

"The plea of the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 proposing to hold the elections in 6 to 8 phases is not supported by any cogent material. The notification dated 18.03.2015 for holding elections of 91 Municipalities/Municipal Corporations on one date has already been placed on record which cannot be ignored. Hence, the respondent Nos. 2 and 3 are expected to disclose the time schedule containing earliest dates for holding these elections expeditiously so that democratic process of holding elections can be completed without any further delay", the Court noted further. 

Senior advocate Pinky Anand on the previous date of hearing had contended that as per the directions of the Supreme Court EVMS containing Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) are mandatory which is not being followed for the elections to the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation as evident from the affidavit submitted. However, the Bench rejected such a prayer by observing that the Supreme Court judgments relied upon in this regard do not pertain to local body elections. 

"These judgments are not relating to the local bodies elections and in none of these judgments it has been held that the elections should not be held if the VVPATs are not used", the Court stated further. 

The matter is slated to be heard next on December 23. 

Yesterday, the Court while adjudicating upon another plea moved by BJP worker Devdutta Maji, had directed the West Bengal State Election Commission to install close circuit television (CCTV) cameras in all the main and auxiliary polling booths as also in strong room where EVMs will be kept during the upcoming Kolkata Municipal Corporation Election.

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 prioritizing 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

Click Here To Read/Download Order