SC tells Bengal to turn seven civic boards into corporations

The Supreme Court Monday gave West Bengal government time till June 30 to reconstitute seven municipal bodies to create the Asansol, Howrah and Bidhannagar-Rajarhat municipal corporations and their wards so that the state poll panel could hold elections to them.

Stating that "it is not in doubt that the supremacy of holding elections rests with the State Election Commission", the vacation bench of Justice A.K.Sikri and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit said that after the state government completes the exercise of reconstituting the seven municipal bodies into three civic corporations, the SEC "would start the process of holding the elections".

The election process would involve demarcation of constituencies, including the reserved constituencies, the court noted as it disposed of the state government's plea for postponing the elections to complete the formalities for reconstituting the municipal bodies.

The court also said that if the SEC requires central forces for the conduct of "free and fair" elections, it can approach the central government.

Modifying the Calcutta High Court order which asked the SEC to initiate and complete the election to seven municipalities within two months, the apex court said the high court may be right to the extent that once the existing bodies' terms came to an end, their reconstitution should have started long ago.

The high court by its May 15 order asked the SEC to complete the polls to seven municipal bodies - Asansol Municipal Corporation, and Kulti, Raniganj, Jamuria, Bidhannagar, Rajarhat-Gopalpur and Bally municipalities - within two months.

Noting the state government's submission that the exercise of reconstituting the seven municipal bodies was at an advanced stage and would be completed by June 16, the court said that if elections are held now, the term of the municipal bodies and their elected representatives would only be a few weeks or of a few months.

No useful purpose would be served if the polls are held now as these will have to take place again after the reconstitution of the municipal bodies, it said.

Observing that "today we have to choose between two evils and which is lesser", the court did not appear inclined to have two elections in quick succession.

It said that if the polls are held now and if fresh elections do not take place after reconstitution of local bodies, it would result in municipal corporations going under the control of the administrator, who is a bureaucrat.