Supreme Court holds hearing on deployment of central forces for panchayat elections as per HC's order

The Supreme Court will hear tomorrow a petition filed against the deployment of the Central Force by the Calcutta High Court in the wake of the violence in the West Bengal Panchayat elections.

The West Bengal government and the State Election Commission mentioned the matter to a division bench of Justice Surya Kant of the Supreme Court on Monday.

The state government and the State Election Commission had appealed the matter in the Supreme Court on Saturday, although a caveat had already been filed in the matter by BJP leader Shubhendu Adhikari.

Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora said that the Calcutta High Court had ordered the deployment of central force in 48 hours, but this State Election Commission cannot do this and any decision or request in this regard can be taken by the State Government. After this, the court agreed to the hearing.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition Shubhendu Adhikari and Abu Hasim Khan Chowdhary filed a contempt case against the State Election Commission in the Calcutta High Court on Monday. The petitioner has alleged that the commission has not followed the order of the High Court.

In a case related to the Panchayat elections, a division bench of the Chief Justice of the High Court had directed the deployment of central forces within 48 hours. Shubhendu Adhikari complains that the order of the court has not been implemented. He told the court that the order was not followed.

The Division Bench of the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court has given permission to file the case. The hearing of the contempt of court case is also likely to be held in the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday.

On the other hand, the Bengal Congress has objection to Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi defending the Central Force case in the Supreme Court. Congress leader and lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi should not advocate on behalf of the state for conducting fair elections.