Kolkata, March 23 The Election Commission questioned the petitioner's standing on Monday while filing a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the transfer of several officials of the West Bengal government after the announcement of state assembly elections.
The petitioner, a lawyer, claimed in the PIL that 79 officials – 63 police personnel and 16 civil servants – have been transferred by the EC since the announcement of the assembly polls on March 15.
The petitioner claimed before a division bench presided over by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul that the transfers, including those of the chief secretary and the home secretary, have created a vacuum in governance in the state.
Senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee, representing the petitioner, claimed that the EC is acting arbitrarily and bringing in officials of its choice before conducting the elections in the state.
The state government, represented by Advocate General Kishore Dutta, supported the arguments of the petitioner before the division bench, also comprising Justice Partha Sarathi Sen.
Representing the EC, senior advocate DS Naidu stated that the powers of the commission are bound by law and its solemn duty is to conduct free and fair elections.
Questioning the maintainability of the petition as a public interest litigation (PIL), he submitted that the petitioner is a full-time state lawyer and thus cannot claim to be a public-spirited person in filing the PIL.
Claiming non-discrimination against West Bengal as alleged by the petitioner, Naidu maintained that many more officers were transferred during assembly elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
He denied that any vacuum has been created in governance in West Bengal owing to the transfers, stating that officers may change, but the positions remain, and the process of governance continues as usual.
Referring to the phrase "The King is dead, long live the King!", he said that the institution remains unbroken and the position is never vacant.
The hearing in the matter was adjourned till Wednesday, when the parties will make further submissions.
Petitioner Arka Kumar Nag made the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar party respondents in the matter and prayed before the court that the transfers be declared bad in law and quashed.
The petitioner's lawyer claimed that on the one hand, the EC has ordered that the transferred officers will not be given any election-related posts till the completion of the assembly polls, while on the other hand, the commission has posted 23 such officers on election duty as observers in other states.
Claiming that the EC is acting arbitrarily, Banerjee submitted before the court that an impeachment process has been initiated against CEC Kumar for his alleged partisan attitude.
Banerjee further claimed that "widespread change in the administration of the West Bengal government is intended to make the state's electorate believe that an unwritten emergency, like President's Rule, is in force in the state."
Naidu submitted that the submissions made by the petitioner regarding an impeachment motion having been moved against the CEC are an extraneous issue and not related to the matter before the court.
He said that the petitioner should have informed the court how he accessed documents related to communications between the Election Commission and the chief secretary of West Bengal.
