SC on plea against transfer of officers in West Bengal says question of law will be kept open
The bench also passed the order while hearing a plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order dated March 31. The high court had dismissed a PIL challenging the transfer of officers by the poll panel in West Bengal.
In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed a plea challenging the transfer of administrative and police officers by the Election Commission in poll-bound West Bengal. While hearing the matter, a bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi said that the question of law raised in the matter would be kept open.
A bench of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi noted, “The issues raised... involve substantial questions of law. However, keeping in view the first Phase of elections in the State, we are not inclined to entertain the SLP.”
The petition, which was initially filed as a public interest litigation, was rejected by the Calcutta High Court, earlier this month. The Calcutta High Court had while rejecting the plea had observed that the transfer of a large number of officers —in itself — cannot be held to have been done arbitrarily or with mala fide intent. The petitioner then moved the apex court against the High Court’s decision.
High Court had earlier dismissed PIL challenging transfer of officers
The bench also passed the order while hearing a plea challenging a Calcutta High Court order dated March 31. The high court had dismissed a PIL challenging the transfer of officers by the poll panel in West Bengal. Assembly elections in West Bengal will be held in two phases on April 23 and 29 and votes will be counted on May 4.
Last month, the Election Commission questioned the locus standi of the petitioner in filing a PIL challenging the transfer of several officers of the West Bengal government after the announcement of Assembly elections in the state.
The petitioner, a lawyer, claimed in the PIL that 79 officers -- 63 police personnel and 16 civil servants -- have been shifted by the EC since the announcement of the assembly polls on March 15.
The petitioner claimed before a division bench presided by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul that the transfers, including that of the chief secretary and the home secretary, have created a vacuum in governance in the state.
EC is acting in an arbitrary manner, says Kalyan Banerjee
Senior counsel Kalyan Banerjee, representing the petitioner, claimed that the EC is acting in an arbitrary manner and bringing in officers of its choice before conducting the elections in the state.
The state government, represented by Advocate General Kishore Dutta, supported the arguments of the petitioner before the division bench, also comprising Justice Partha Sarathi Sen. Representing the EC, senior advocate DS Naidu stated that the powers of the commission are bound by law and its solemn duty is to conduct free and fair elections.
Questioning the maintainability of the petition as a public interest litigation (PIL), he submitted that the petitioner is a full-time state lawyer and thus cannot claim to be a public-spirited person in filing the PIL.
Claiming non-discrimination against West Bengal as alleged by the petitioner, Naidu maintained that many more officers were transferred during assembly elections in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
He denied that any vacuum has been created in governance in West Bengal owing to the transfers, stating that officers may change, but the positions remain, and the process of governance continues as usual.
Petitioner Arka Kumar Nag made the Election Commission and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar party respondents in the matter and prayed before the court that the transfers be declared bad in law and quashed.
The petitioner's lawyer claimed that on the one hand, the EC has ordered that the transferred officers will not be given any election-related posts till the completion of the assembly polls, while on the other hand, the commission has posted 23 such officers on election duty as observers in other states.