Calcutta HC reserves order on having NHRC observer for panchayat polls

Kolkata, July 4 A division bench of Calcutta High Court’s Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya on Tuesday reserved the order on having an observer from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for the July 8 panchayat elections in West Bengal.

On June 11, the NHRC had announced the appointment of its Director General (Investigation), Damodar Sarangi, as the independent observer for the panchayat polls. A communication in this regard was forwarded to the State Election Commission (SEC) and the state secretariat by the NHRC on the same day. The move came after the NHRC took suo motu cognisance of reports of violence during the nomination filing phase.

However, the SEC opposed the move by NHRC and approached the Calcutta High Court with a petition on this count. One June 23, the single-judge bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya rejected NHRC’s proposal to appoint an independent observer for the rural civic body polls.

The NHRC in due course challenged the decision in the division bench headed by Chief Justice Sivagnanam.

During the course of hearing on Tuesday, NHRC counsel Aman Lekhi argued that the court cannot interfere in a decision of the NHRC, which is responsible for ensuring human rights.

“That is why the NHRC decided to appoint observers to review the situation in the violence-prone areas ahead of the rural civic body polls. The NHRC does suo motu review of such situations and gives recommendations accordingly. NHRC’s only task is to ensure human rights. There is no political motive involved in the matter. But the court order seems to have overlooked that,” Lekhi argued.

He also maintained that since there was massive violence and bloodshed during panchayat elections in 2018 and Assembly polls in 2021, the NHRC does not want a repetition of the same in 2023.

“NHRC cannot remain silent if human rights are violated every day,” he said.

The counsel for SEC, Jayanta Mitra, claimed that the NHRC’s move is politically motivated.

“Too many cooks spoil the broth. A constitutional body like the State Election Commission is keeping a constant watch on the law and order situation. The court is giving regular directions on safeguarding human rights. In such a situation, how can the NHRC, which is not a constitutional body, interfere in the matter,” Mitra questioned.

The counsel for the state government argued that NHRC does not send observers when there is poll-related violence in other states.

After hearing all parties, the division bench reserved its order for the day.

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