SC refuses BJP, CPM plea for panchayat repoll; relief for TMC

Repoll sought for 20K seats TMC won uncontested

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday refused to order repolling in over 20,000 seats that Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) won uncontested in the May panchayat elections.

The court, however, allowed opposition candidates who have alleged that they were intimidated and stopped from filing their nomination papers to file individual petitions after the state election commission notifies the results. The plea was filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Communist Party of India (Marxist).

“For this court to set aside elections to over 20,000 seats would be to prejudge the basic issue as to whether in each of those constituencies the election stands vitiated by obstruction having been caused to candidates from filing their nominations. A general assumption of this nature cannot be made. Ultimately, whether this is correct would depend upon the evidence adduced in the facts of individual cases where such a grievance has been made in an election petition,” a bench headed by chief justice of India Dipak Misra said.

“…once the election process

has commenced, it is trite law that it should not be interdicted mid stage,” said the bench, also comprising justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud.

Candidates can contend in their petitions that the election process was vitiated by intimidation, as was alleged by opposition parties in Bengal, including Congress, BJP and CPI(M).

“The electoral process is afforded sanctity in a democracy.

That is the reason why in a consistent line of precedent, this Court has insisted (earlier judgments) upon the discipline of the law being followed so that any challenge to the validity of an election has to be addressed by adopting the remedy of an election petition provided under the governing statute,” said the bench, while upholding an appeal by the state election commission.