The Supreme Court rejected the pleas of Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who sought cancellation of elections to over 20,000 uncontested local body seats in West Bengal, reported PTI.
This comes as a huge relief for Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee‘s Trinamool Congress(TMC), who had won 20,159 seats without contest in May.
The apex court has, however, allowed the aggrieved candidates who alleged that they were obstructed from filing nominations, to file their petitions oppugning panchayat polls in the concerned courts within 30 days.
After the TMC had won over 20,000 seats which remained uncontested in the West Bengal panchayat election, the opposition had cried foul. They alleged that TMC had resorted to violence and stopped the opposition candidates from filing their nominations.
The SC said, “Keeping in view the seriousness of allegations of nominations being stopped, Supreme Court allows individuals to take legal recourse.”
The results for the seats which remained undeclared on court orders can now be announced, reported NDTV.
The apex court has rejected the decision of the Calcutta High Court which allowed the nomination papers of the candidates to be filed via email and WhatsApp in the state’s panchayat elections.
The Supreme Court said, “The High Court was in error while allowing the filing of nomination papers through electronic forms.” The bench added, “no such process is either mentioned nor allowed under the provisions of the Representation of the Peoples Act”, reported PTI.
Out of total 58,692 seats in the West Bengal gram panchayat village, Zilla Parishad and panchayat samiti, 20,159 had faced no contests in the “violence-marred polls” held in May, reported PTI.