HC asks WB poll body to reschedule panchayat polls, quashes its notification

The Calcutta High Court today directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to issue a fresh notification to allow nominations for panchayat polls in West Bengal, quashing its April 10 order cancelling extension of the deadline for filing nominations.

The high court, which had earlier stayed the election process, directed the commission to reschedule the dates for panchayat election process and accordingly conduct the polls.

Opposition parties such as the BJP, the Congress and the CPI(M), which had moved the high court against the SEC, welcomed the verdict and termed it as a "defeat" of the ruling Trinamool Congress.

However, unfazed Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomed the order and expressed hope that the elections will be held as early as possible.

Justice Subrata Talukdar commenced the order by quoting Winston Churchill: "At the bottom of all the tributes paid to democracy is the little man, walking into the little booth, with a little pencil, making a little cross on a little bit of paper, no amount of rhetoric or voluminous discussion can possibly diminish the overwhelming importance of that point - House of Commons, 31 October 1944."