SUVENDU ADHIKARI Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This public interest writ petition has been filed for issuance of a writ of mandamus to direct the State Election Commission to immediately file a report marking the areas which are sensitive after considering the Election Commission of India Report earmarking sensitive areas during the 2021 Assembly Elections as well as the NHRC and a special committee report filed pursuant to directions issued in the post-poll violence case in WPA (P) No. 142 of 2021 and 144 of 2021 and immediately requisition and deploy Central Para- military Forces in such areas and also at the areas where the state security assessment report denotes to have inadequate force to provide security till after the declaration of the results; to direct the State Election Commission to allow filing of nomination by the candidates contesting in Gram Panchayat Samity and Zilla Parishad who were prevented from filing their nominations in the respective officers of the SDOs; to direct the State Election Commission to ensure that all police personnel have to present their Government issued photo identity card along with Badge Number, tag and Aadhar Card and also other State Government Officials while discharging election related duties.

(2.) The present writ petitioner had filed an earlier writ petition in WPA (P) 287of 2023 which was heard along with WPA (P) 250 of 2023 and WPA (P) 286 of 2023 and by common judgment dtd. 13/6/2023 the writ petitions were disposed of. Since, the main issued highlighted in the present writ petition concerns deployment of the Central Para-military Forces, we would refer to the relevant paragraphs of the common judgment in WPA (P) 250 of 2023 etc. dtd. 13/6/2023 which is as follows:

(3.) In the above referred decision to which one of us (TSSCJ) was a party, thee was direction was issued to the State Election Commission to forthwith send a requisition for deployment of the Central Forces at the first instance for all the areas/ Districts which in the opinion of the State Election Commission have been declared as "sensitive". The further direction was to the State Election Commission to review the assessment plan submitted by the State and wherever there is inadequacy of the State Police Force in all such areas also the State Election Commission shall requisition the deployment of the Para- military Forces which shall be done forthwith by the commission and on receipt of such request the appropriate authorities of the Central Government was directed to deploy the required strength without loss of time and the charges to be borne by the Central Government. Till the writ petition was filed and heard in the moving session, the State Election Commission had not requisitioned the deployment of the Central Forces. If that be so should the action of the State Election Commission be consider to be a deliberate violence of the order and direction issued in the earlier writ petitions. This issue is not gone into for the present.