Supreme Court on Saturday recorded an assurance from the Election Commission of India (ECI) that it will follow its circular on the appointment of vote counting supervisors for the West Bengal Assembly elections, and declined to pass further orders in the matter, reports Bar & Bench.
A Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a plea filed by the All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) challenging the decision of the Chief Electoral Officer to deploy only Central government employees as counting supervisors.
Senior Advocate Dama Sheshadri Naidu, appearing for the ECI, told the Court that the poll body would comply with its circular “in letter and spirit” and ensure the presence of a State government nominee during the counting process scheduled for May 4.
“We are saying that State government nominee will be there. That will be followed even before all this,” Naidu submitted.
Recording this assurance, the Court said, “No further orders are needed in the SLP. We record the submission… that the circular of ECI be followed in letter and spirit,” and disposed of the appeal.
The matter was taken up urgently in view of the counting scheduled in two days. The petition had challenged an earlier order of the Calcutta High Court, which dismissed TMC’s plea and upheld the ECI’s authority to appoint counting personnel from either Central or State government services.
The High Court had observed that there was no illegality in appointing Central government or PSU employees as counting supervisors, adding that any grievances regarding bias could be addressed through election petitions after the results.
Before the Supreme Court, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for TMC, argued that excluding State government officials was contrary to Article 324 of the Constitution and amounted to casting aspersions on the State administration.
However, the Bench noted that counting would take place in the presence of agents from all political parties, and that the ECI had discretion in such appointments. Justice Bagchi remarked that selecting personnel from one pool alone could not be termed illegal.
The Court also addressed concerns raised over transparency, with Sibal seeking preservation of CCTV footage of the counting process. Naidu responded that such footage is retained for 45 days. With the ECI assuring compliance with its own guidelines, the Court closed the matter without issuing additional directions.
