The Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the Election Commission (EC) to file an affidavit regarding the contents of the notification issued by it for the Bhabanipur bypolls. The Election Commission has been asked to submit the affidavit within 24 hours.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation that urged it to step into the poll process in the constituency, as the EC allegedly mentioned that a constitutional crisis would arise if the by-election to Bhabanipur was not held, which the petitioner claimed the poll body cannot.
The press statement issued by the Election Commission on the Bhabanipur by-election (paragraph 6 of the statement) stated, “The West Bengal Chief Secretary has said that the situation in the state is completely under control. At the same time, he noted that the flood situation in the state would not affect the polling stations in any way. At the same time, he pointed out that under Article 164 (4) of the Indian Constitution, if a minister is not a member of the Legislative Assembly, his ministry leaves within six months of the announcement of the results of the vote. If the highest official is not appointed to that post, a constitutional crisis may arise.” The plaintiff Sayan Bandyopadhyay approached the court with this. He demanded that the Election Commission should remove from its press statement the Chief Secretary’s recommendation that a constitutional crisis could arise if elections were not held in Bhabanipur now.