Kolkata, March 23 – The preliminary hearing at the Calcutta High Court on the public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) decision to transfer several senior bureaucrats and police officers in poll-bound West Bengal concluded on Monday. The ECI’s counsel argued that the transfers of bureaucrats and police officers varied from state to state, depending on the specific requirements of each state.
The next hearing by the division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen on the PIL, which had specifically objected to the transfers and replacements of former Chief Secretary, Nandini Chakraborty, former State Home Secretary, Jagdish Prasad Meena, and former Acting Director General of Police, Peeyush Pandey, has been fixed for Wednesday.
Appearing for the petitioner, Trinamool Congress MP and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee questioned whether the ECI had the unlimited power to transfer, replace, or send any bureaucrat or police officer according to its own will.
"The ECI has been in control of these officers since the beginning of the special intensive revision in the state. The Commission did not express dissatisfaction with their work during the SIR (State Election Commission Revision). Why are they suddenly being removed after the election is announced? This has not happened in any other poll-bound state except West Bengal," he argued.
Also arguing on behalf of the state government, West Bengal Advocate General Kishor Datta questioned whether the Commission had the authority to remove those officers who were not directly involved in electoral duties.
In his counter-argument, the ECI’s counsel submitted that while the Commission certainly did not have unlimited power, it had the authority to make any decision necessary to ensure a free, fair, and violence-free polling process.
"There are many reasons behind these decisions. Voting is taking place in five states and Union Territories; the situation is not the same everywhere. Officers have been transferred elsewhere. Actions are being taken according to the situation prevailing in the state concerned," the ECI's counsel said.
He also submitted to the court the details of the bureaucrats and police officers transferred, replaced, and sent on deputation in other poll-bound states.
