West Bengal Panchayat Polls: Calcutta High Court orders CBI probe into alleged tampering of documents by Returning Officer

In yet another case concerning the upcoming West Bengal Panchayat Elections, Calcutta High Court on Wednesday ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into allegations that nomination papers filed by candidates of various opposition parties had been tampered with by the Returning Officer [Kashmira Begam Khan v. Secy, West Bengal Election Commission]..The Court directed the CBI to conclude its investigation by July 5 and to submit a report to the Court on July 7, a day before the panchayat elections are scheduled to be held. “For the purpose of maintaining independency and transparency in the process of investigation, the Court thinks it fit to direct the CBI to conduct the investigation and file a report before this Court,” the Court said.Justice Amrita Sinha passed the order after rejecting the submissions of the State Election Commission (SEC) and the State that the inquiry ought to be conducted by the State authorities.“As it appears that the allegation of tampering has been brought against an officer who is responsible for conducting the election in a free and fair manner, accordingly, the said allegation is required to be enquired into by a competent independent authority … As the officer against whom the allegation is made is acting according to the directives of the State respondents and is also responsible for conducting the election in a free and fair manner, it may not be possible for the State agency to act in an independent way,” the Court said..The Court also ordered that the video recording made of the scrutiny process by the Panchayat Returning Officer, Uluberia I Block, be preserved and maintained till the same is re-scrutinised..The order was passed on petitions by candidates who claimed that documents submitted by them at the time of submitting their nomination papers were tampered with. The Court was told that similar incidents have taken place on a number of occasions.The matter will be heard next on July 7..On a related note, in at least five orders passed yesterday, the Court allowed candidates who claimed that their names were abruptly dropped from the final list of candidates to contest the elections.“There is nothing on record to suggest that there was voluntarily withdrawal of the nomination. In view of the above, the State Election Commission through the Panchayat Returning Officer is directed to permit the petitioners to contest the election,” Justice Sinha held, in these cases.[Case titles: Boothnath Mondal & Ors. v.The State of West Bengal & Ors.; Ranjit Mondal & Ors. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.; Deepa Naskar & Ors. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors; Sushanta Pramanik & Ors. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.; Bablu Biswas & Ors. v. The State of West Bengal & Ors.].In another case filed by Indian National Congress (INC) candidate Soumya Aich Roy alleging poll-related violence, the Court ordered the SEC to ensure that INC candidates were permitted to file their Form B papers with police protection..[Read Order]