India's Supreme Court will hear on Saturday a Trinamool Congress (TMC) plea challenging the Election Commission's directive for deploying central government or PSU staff as counting supervisors in West Bengal's assembly polls. The party contests the order mandating at least one such employee per counting table ahead of the May 4 vote count. The Calcutta High Court had earlier dismissed TMC's petition.
Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly was held in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with vote counting scheduled for May 4.
The Election Commission's additional chief electoral officer issued an order on April 30 mandating that at least one among the counting supervisor or assistant at each table be a central government or Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employee. TMC challenged this in the Supreme Court, arguing it is arbitrary, beyond jurisdiction, and discriminatory. The party contends it could compromise counting fairness, as central staff serve under a political party, and no such arrangement was made in four other states polling alongside Bengal.
TMC's petition states the additional chief electoral officer lacks authority for such a decision, and EC guidelines do not mandate central staff. The Calcutta High Court dismissed the plea on April 30, stating: “It is the prerogative of the office of the Election Commission of India to appoint the counting supervisor and counting assistant either from the state government or the Central government. This court does not find any illegality…”
The High Court cited CCTV surveillance, micro-observers, and candidates' agents as safeguards. It clarified that any malpractice could be challenged via election petition, specifically noting: “If the petitioner finds that during the counting, the Central government employees... favoured the candidate of the BJP…, the petitioner has the liberty to challenge the same in an election petition.” Justices P.V. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi will hear the matter today, potentially impacting the May 4 process.
