Supreme Court permits notification of uncontested seats panchayat in West Bengal polls

New Delhi, Aug 24: In a boost to ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Supreme Court on Friday permitted the notification of the results of 20,159 uncontested seats in the recently held West Bengal panchayat polls and also ruled that there was no provision for the filing of e-nomination in the West Bengal Elections Act 2003.

Taking recourse to its plenary powers under Article 142, the bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, however, permitted the aggrieved candidates who could not file their nomination papers in the seats that went uncontested, to move the election tribunal within 30 days. The court exercised its powers under Article 142 of the Constitution permitting aggrieved persons to raise an election dispute. It noted that Section 79(1) of the West Bengal Panchayat Election Act, 2003 provides that the validity of an election could be challenged within 30 days of the declaration of the result.

Both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India-Marxist had alleged that the ruling party had obstructed their nominees from filing nomination papers. Finding fault with the High Court’s direction permitting e-nominations, the top court noted that the High Court had issued the direction at a time when election process had already commenced and the last date of filing nomination too was over. (IANS)