EC says Calcutta HC upheld all its decisions in 110 WB poll cases

The Election Commission of India said all 110 petitions challenging its decisions during the West Bengal Assembly elections were resolved without adverse orders from the Calcutta High Court, despite intense legal and political scrutiny

New Delhi: As many as 110 pleas were filed in the Calcutta High Court against the Election Commission during the highly charged West Bengal assembly polls held recently, with the judiciary upholding all decisions taken by the poll authority, an official said.

The polls were held in the crucial state in two phases in April where the BJP ended the 15-year reign of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and formed the government for the first time.

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Official data shows that as many as 110 cases were filed against the poll authority and its decisions during the entire poll process between March 15, when polls were announced, and the completion of the exercise.

“There was no adverse order against the EC in any of the matters,” the official said. During the high-stakes elections, the Election Commission faced intense scrutiny, legal challenges and criticism, largely from the TMC, the then ruling party in the state. Opposition parties had accused the poll panel of holding a biased election to help the BJP.

The poll watchdog was also accused of carrying out the Special Intensive Revision of the voter list to disenfranchise voters not supporting the BJP. TMC’s opposition to the SIR was so intense that the then chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, had pleaded the case herself before a Supreme Court bench headed by CJI Surya Kant.

The EC has all along maintained that the poll roll revision was aimed at removing dead, duplicate, shifted and absent voters as well as foreign nationals.