Supreme Court Deals a Major Blow to TMC: Upholds Election Commission's Decision on Appointment of Counting Personnel

The Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling on Saturday regarding the Trinamool Congress (TMC) petition questioning the selection of staff for vote counting in West Bengal. A special bench comprising Justice P S Narasimha and Justice Joymalya Bagchi clarified that the Election Commission of India (ECI) has the full authority to choose its preferred officials for counting.

The court stated that the ECI's circular dated April 13 cannot be deemed incorrect. The TMC had alleged that the ECI was only appointing supervisors from the central government and public sector undertakings (PSUs), which could affect fairness. The Supreme Court's special bench rejected TMC's argument challenging the Calcutta High Court's decision.

The court noted that the Election Commission had made it clear that there would be a mix of employees from both the central and state governments in the counting process, thus any fear of malpractice was unfounded. A senior lawyer representing the commission assured the court that the returning officer has the authority to deploy staff from any government pool. Following this clarification, the court disposed of the petition, stating that no new orders were necessary in this matter.

Voting for the 294 assembly seats in West Bengal has already been completed in two phases (on April 23 and 29), and all eyes are now on the counting scheduled for May 4. The Calcutta High Court had previously dismissed TMC's petition on April 30, stating that there is nothing illegal in appointing PSU and central government employees as counting supervisors.

With the Supreme Court's stance, it is now clear that the Election Commission will conduct the counting process according to its established rules. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal represented TMC but ultimately had to return empty-handed.

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