The Calcutta High Court on Thursday stayed the panchayat election process in West Bengal till further orders.
Justice Subrata Talukdar also asked the State Election Commission to submit a status report taking into account the complaints of members of the State’s Opposition parties who could not file nomination papers. The next hearing is scheduled for April 16.
The last day for filing nominations for the panchayat polls was April 9. However, on the evening of April 9, the SEC extended the deadline for filing nomination by a day, owing to widespread allegations against the ruling Trinamool Congress for unleashing terror. The decision was then subsequently reversed on April 10, following a petition from the TMC.
Based on a petition from the BJP, the Calcutta High Court had on April 10, issued a stay order on the cancellation of the deadline extension notice.
Meanwhile, in a parallel development, both BJP and CPI(M) had approached the Supreme Court on the issue. The apex court had, however, redirected the issue to the Calcutta High Court.
Justice Talukdar also imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh on the BJP for misrepresentation and for approaching both the High Court and the Supreme Court on similar petitions.
There have reportedly been series of incidents of violence across several districts of the State including Birbhum, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Cooch Behar and Bankura. There are also unconfirmed reports of killings and serious injuries across the State. No opposition party could file nominations in all seats. Most of the seats in at least one Zilla Parishad at Birbhum went uncontested.
The three-tier Panchayat elections in the State was to begin on May 1. The counting of votes was to have taken place on May 8. Elections are to be held to 48,650 Gram Panchayat seats, 9,217 Panchayat Samiti seats and 825 Zilla Parishad seats.