NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday pulled up the West Bengal State Election Commission (SEC), saying that it was the SEC’s duty to conduct free and fair elections. The top court asked the poll body if it has investigated the reasons why 16,000 seats went uncontested and whether the candidates were prevented from voting. Appearing for the SEC, senior advocate Vikas Singh said 33 per cent of the nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested is not unusual. He cited the examples of Haryana where 51 per cent of panchayat seats went uncontested, 67 per cent in Sikkim and 27.6 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.
The poll body told the bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that it cannot persuade political parties to field candidates. Prompt steps, including holding re-polls, were done as and when the poll body received complaints about the panchayat elections. Singh added that no individual complaint or specific grievance was raised of a particular person not allowed to file nomination papers.
The SEC also said that the state had a free press and no complaints were aired. “The panchayat elections were free.” Senior counsel Siddharth Luthra, also appearing for the state government, noted that in not even in one petition did the petitioners make any averment that someone was stopped from filing nomination. The hearing remained inconclusive and likely to continue on Tuesday.