Kolkata, March 11 – A public interest litigation was filed before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Wednesday, seeking free, fair, and violence-free elections in West Bengal in the upcoming state assembly elections, scheduled later this year.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, has admitted the petition, and the matter is expected to be heard in the second half of Wednesday.
The public interest litigation was filed just a day after the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) told media persons in Kolkata on Tuesday that the Election Commission of India (ECI) would adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards poll-related violence, whether before, during, or after the elections.
"The Commission has decided to take strong action against anyone involved in such incidents," the CEC said.
The public interest litigation filed on Wednesday referred to instances of poll-related violence in past elections, including intimidation of voters and opposition party agents, as well as instances of women being harassed by "political thugs" in the state.
Other demands in the public interest litigation include the immediate deployment of central armed police forces (CAPFs) in highly sensitive areas in the state, the installation of CCTV cameras, and the arrangement of videography in all booths this time.
The petitioner also referred to the unprecedented bloodshed and violence in the elections for the three-tier panchayat system in West Bengal in 2018 and 2023, which resulted in the loss of several lives in both years.
The ECI is particularly focusing on curbing instances of pre- and post-poll violence in West Bengal, which made the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections controversial.
Recently, there were also allegations that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s 'Parivartan Yatra' was attacked at several places in the state, allegedly by Trinamool Congress activists.