The High Court of Calcutta on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the National Human Rights Commission against a Single-Judge Bench order, which had set aside the directions issued by NHRC to the West Bengal State Election Commission on appointment of human rights observers for the Panchayat elections in the state.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Division Bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya had reserved its verdict on the application filed by the rights body.
Taking suo motu cognisance of violence during the nominations, NHRC, on June11, had appointed its Director General (Investigation), Damodar Sarangi, as the independent observer for the rural civic body polls in West Bengal, scheduled to be held in a single phase on July 8.
The rights body had forwarded a communication in this regard to the State Election Commission (SEC) and the state secretariat on the same day.
However, the SEC moved the Calcutta High Court against the directions.
The matter was taken up by the Single-Judge Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya on June 23, which rejected the NHRC’s proposal to appoint an independent observer for the elections.
NHRC challenged this decision before the Division Bench of the High Court, which had reserved its orders in the case on July 4.
Appearing for NHRC on Tuesday, Aman Lekhi had contended that the High Court could not interfere with a decision taken by NHRC, as the body was responsible for ensuring human rights.
It said in order to review the situation in violence-prone areas of west bengal ahead of the Panchayat election, the rights body had appointed the observer. He said NHRC has been doing it in the past also. It would take suo motu cognisance of such situations and make recommendations accordingly.
Noting that NHRC’s only task was to ensure human rights, the Counsel argued that there was no political motive involved in the matter, adding that the court order, however, seems to have overlooked this.
Appearing for the SEC, Jayanta Mitra alleged that the decision taken by NHRC was politically-motivated.
As per Mitra, the State Election Commission was keeping a constant watch on the law and order situation in West bengal. The Counsel said the High Court has been giving regular directions on safeguarding human rights. He wondered as to how NHRC, which was not a constitutional body, could interfere in the matter.
The lawyer representing the state government argued that NHRC did not send observers to other states, when they witnessed poll-related violence. After hearing all parties, the Division Bench had reserved its order on July 4.