The Supreme Court has on Saturday turned down a request to interfere with the Election Commission’s plan to use only central government and Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) staff as counting supervisors for the West Bengal election tally on May 4. The decision marks a distinct setback for the Trinamool Congress (TMC), which had petitioned the apex court just a day earlier to demand that state government nominees be included in these supervisory roles.
The essence of the petition filed by the TMC stemmed from the possibility of bias. The party felt that basing the selection of officers on the centre employees alone might lead to the dominant party in the Centre exercising undue influence. This would create an imbalance in what is supposed to be a level playing field in the crucial final count. However, this point did not resonate with the court. The bench noted that the existing circular could not be struck down on such grounds and felt no further orders were necessary, provided the Commission’s counsel stuck to their word that the rules would be followed to the letter.
For its part, the Election Commission defended its stance by pointing to a reciprocal arrangement established in its 13 April circular. According to the poll body, the system is designed to balance itself: while the supervisor might be a central government appointee, the counting assistant at the same table is drawn from the state government. This ensures that a state official is physically present at every single station throughout the process.
Strangely enough, taking note of the remarks made by the court, it seems that TMC decided to change tactics. Instead of pursuing their case to overturn the circular, they have taken up the task of ensuring that the circular be implemented properly.
Also read: TMC moves SC over EC counting staff rule; hearing tomorrow
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