By – Shubhendra Singh Rajawat
The Center announced before the Calcutta High Court that it has gradually removed 136 businesses from election duty.
KOLKATA – The West Bengal administration and state election commission were given permission by the Calcutta high court on Monday to extend the deployment of federal forces for an additional 10 days in order to quell any potential violence in the state.
“Such areas shall be selected so that the remaining central forces can be deployed in the locations and be permitted to remain there for a period of 10 days wherever, in the view of the state administration and the state election commission, disturbance is still ongoing. The decision to withdraw the central forces gradually is up to the center, according to a division bench chaired by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam.
The Center notified the court that at least 136 companies of the central troops had been phased out. In accordance with the high court’s directives for the three-tiered panchayat elections held on July 8, the Union government dispatched 821 firms for deployment in the state. After the panchayat election dates were published on June 8, the high court ordered central soldiers in response to violence that had broken out in a number of areas in the state.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has stated that 29 people have died in election-related violence in the state. According to opposition groups, the death toll is closer to 55.
The high court further ordered district superintendents of police to keep an eye on the situation and asked the police to ensure the return of anyone who was reportedly driven from their homes before to the elections.
The bench expressed its concern at the numerous petitions and supplemental affidavits submitted in matters pertaining to panchayat elections as two women who were reportedly assaulted addressed the court.
“Election-related items take up the full list. No action is possible. You attribute that to your friends. 40 to 50 matters have already been distributed. The list is static. For the past two and a half months, absolutely no work has been done in this court, the bench declared.
The high court has bemoaned the increase in applications regarding the panchayat elections twice in the past week. On July 18, a bench stated, “There is an impression that the court is doing no work,” pointing out that the high court had been inundated with applications about the panchayat elections.