Panchayat Polls: Calcutta High Court defers hearing PIL on 274 uncontested seats after noting “identical” plea is before single-Judge

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday adjourned till next week a public interest litigation (PIL) concerning 274 seats in the West Bengal Panchayat polls that were going uncontested, after it was told that an “identical” petition has been filed by a political candidate before a single-judge..A bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta had earlier sought the response of the State Election Commission (SEC) in the matter, after the petitioner claimed that his rights as a voter was being affected as only ruling party candidates were contesting in all 274 seats in a particular block..However, Senior Advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay today contested the petitioner’s entitlement to file this petition, pointing out that the PIL plea was copy-paste work as an identical petition is already pending before another bench of the High Court which was filed by aspiring candidates..On perusing paragraphs of both petitions, the Court also noted that there were identical paragraphs, although they may be differently numbered.“We find the averments in both petitions are identical ... The font is also identical. You (petitioner) please come forward, there is a serious allegation that the petition has been set up by a candidate already before them (single-judge),” the Chief Justice remarked.The petitioner’s counsel denied the allegation and urged the Court not to draw such an inference.The Court, however, opined that it would await the outcome of the other pending plea, on which orders are likely to be passed this afternoon by Justice Amrita Sinha..Chief Justice Sivagnanam orally observed that it should not be the case that one litigant is allowed to file the same case before two benches, like how protective assessment orders are sought in taxation matters.Therefore, the matter was fixed for further consideration on Monday.“In the meantime you please advice your client,” the Chief Justice orally suggested to the petitioner’s counsel..The petitioner's plea concerns 274 seats of a particular block, which comprises 10 gram panchayats, 30 panchayat samitis and 3 zilla parishads..West Bengal Panchayat Election: Calcutta High Court seeks SEC response on plea alleging only ruling party candidates contesting in 274 seats.Representing the State, Senior Advocate Bandyopadhyay today contended that the petitioner’s pleadings failed to disclose the identity of the petitioner or even whether he was indeed a voter as claimed by his counsel.While wild allegations have been made against the State authorities and the police, there was no pleading on if any candidate had been obstructed from filing a nomination in the 274 seats, Bandyopadhyay argued. Moreover, he also expressed anguish over the manner in which such cases were being argued.“I am hurt. I am here for 42 years. I am not yesterday’s baby ... Of late, I see a few lawyers are not maintaining the dignity, etiquettes, etc. while arguing the matter in court. It is really hurting me. Calcutta High Court has its own tradition. One should not destroy it...”, he submitted. .Meanwhile, the SEC has asserted that there does not appear to be any anomaly when it comes to the rate of nominations withdrawn during the panchayat polls, this time round.In so far as the 274 seats concerned, in the gram panchayat covered, there were 241 seats for which nominations were submitted by 259 candidates. Of these 15 candidates withdrew nominations while 3 nominations were rejected at the stage of scrutiny. In the panchayat samitis concerned, 30 nominations were submitted and all the nominees were declared winners as there were no opposing candidates, In the zilla parishad concerned, there were 3 seats for which 9 nominations were filed and 6 withdrawn, the Court was told..Pertinently, the SEC highlighted that the number of withdrawals was less in 2023, when compared to the all-State figures in 2018.In 2018, 23,619 withdrawals had taken place as against 1,33,673 nominations, the percentage of withdrawals being 17.67 percent, the SEC said. On the other hand, the withdrawal rate this year was down to 9.03 percent (2,28,158 nominations were filed against which withdrawals were 20, 612), the SEC submitted.The counsel added that the SEC is not shying away from looking into whether there was any issue concerning the 274 seats, adding that it could place a report before the Court on this aspect in the next hearing.The SEC’s counsel also disputed the maintainability of the PIL, contending that the Court should not interfere in the present matter when the election authorities had control and superintendence over election matters..Monday’s hearing further saw a grievance being raised on behalf of the candidates already declared as winners in the 274 seats that they would have to be heard in the matter as well. The Court, in turn, suggested that the SEC give their names on affidavit so that all such candidates could be impleaded in the PIL.