Violence during elections not limited to West Bengal; happens everywhere: State Election Commission to Calcutta High Court

West Bengal is not the only State which witnesses violence during elections and such instances of violence take place in other States also, the State Election Commission (SEC) told the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday [National Human Rights Commission vs State of West Bengal]..The submission was made before a division bench of the High Court while opposing an appeal filed by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) seeking to deploy its officials as "observers" during the upcoming panchayat polls in the State. "This violence is not taking place only in West Bengal. It is happening everywhere. It is happening in Chennai, Manipur, Bangalore etc. It is happening everywhere. One shouldn't isolate West Bengal," the counsel for SEC said. A single-judge of the High Court had earlier quashed an order of the NHRC to appoint its observers to keep a close eye on the upcoming polls and to assist the police to maintain law and order.The human rights body then filed the present appeal challenging the said orderThe appeal came up for hearing today before a bench presided over by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya. .Opposing the appeal, the SEC counsel submitted that the NHRC does not have the jurisdiction or powers to pass such an order as it interfered with the functioning of the election commission. "NHRC isn't a constitutional authority but a statutory one. Election Commission is the constitutional authority. Law says there should not be any interference with constitutional authority. NHRC says they only seek to assist us but I say they want to interfere in our work," the SEC counsel submitted. The counsel further alleged that the NHRC was indulging in politics as there have been several petitions being filed by political opponents seeking similar reliefs. "There is a saying too many cooks spoil the broth. This (NHRC) is another cook, which is now before this court for cooking the same thing," the counsel underlined. Further, the SEC contested the claim that there is a large scale violence in the State..The State government through Advocate General (AG) SN Mookerjee too weighed in and opposed the plea filed by the NHRC. The AG pointed out that by a detailed judgment pronounced on June 14, the very same division bench had rejected another petition seeking appointment of retired judges as observers. The bench had accepted the fact that the State has already appointed senior IAS officers and State service commission officers as observers."Your lordships orders have reached finality today. It will ensure free and fair elections. In the teeth of the order passed by your lordships in aid of the elections, the NHRC order is an over-reach. This order, with due respect, amounts to usurpation of powers and functions of not just statutory authority but even constitutional functions," the AG argued. .However, the NHRC through senior advocate Aman Lekhi contended that it did nothing wrong by passing the said order. "We said observer should be appointed to apprise the NHRC of the ground situation in consultation with the SEC to identify sensitive constituencies where violence is likely to take place. We sought report from observers only because we as NHRC have continued responsibility both pre and post elections," Lekhi argued. The NHRC highlighted that its sole responsibility is to protect human rights."I am shocked by this conduct of the SEC to challenge our order. How is the SEC aggrieved? We aren't interfering with its work. We are in fact helping them. Point is why is the State government and SEC reluctant to ensure human rights are not violated or wary on breach of human rights. We aren't doing any politics. Our sole objective is to protect human rights of citizens," Lekhi submitted. .In his submissions, Lekhi pointed out that the NHRC had taken suo motu cognizance of a news report in a magazine which highlighted the violence going on in most of the districts across the State due to elections."We cannot wait for someone to come and file a complaint before us. We cannot turn blind to the violence and the ground reality. There is violence and it is being reported but the SEC says it is media trial," Lekhi argued. After hearing detailed submissions, the bench reserved its verdict in the matter.