Reference Text
Time Left10:00
Rejecting
the
petitions
filed
by
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
and
the
CPM
challenging
the
West
Bengal
Panchayat
polls,
the
Supreme
Court
Friday
said
the
challenge
must
be
pursued
through
election
petitions
instead.
The
top
court
also
underlined
that
the
charges
of
obstruction
of
elections
is
a
serious
matter.
The
pleas
have
sought
cancellation
of
panchayat
polls
in
over
20,000
uncontested
seats.
All
these
uncontested
seats
were
won
unopposed
by
candidates
of
the
ruling
Trinamool
Congress
and
opposition
parties
had
alleged
that
their
candidates
were
obstructed
from
filing
nomination
papers.
A
bench
comprising
Chief
Justice
Dipak
Misra
and
Justices
A
M
Khanwilkar
and
D
Y
Chandrachud
exercised
its
extraordinary
power
under
Article
142
of
the
Constitution
and
held
that
the
limitation
period
of
30
days
for
filing
the
election
petitions,
which
has
expired,
would
now
commence
from
the
date
of
notification
of
panchayat
poll
results.
is
aggrieved
with
the
election
results
can
file
their
petitions
before
the
concerned
court
within
30
days.>
The
apex
court
also
set
aside
a
Calcutta
High
Court
order
allowing
e-filing,
through
WhatsApp
or
e-mail,
of
nominations
in
the
panchayat
polls
in
the
state.
high
court
was
in
error
while
allowing
the
filing
of
nomination
papers
through
electronic
forms,>
it
said,
adding,
such
process
is
either
mentioned
nor
allowed
under
the
provisions
of
the
Representation
of
Peoples
Act>.
Reacting
to
the
order,
Panchayat
Minister
Subrata
Mukherjee
said,
verdict
by
SC
on
West
Bengal
Panchayat
poll.
Opposition
parties
should
apologise
to
people
of
the
state.>
On
August
13,
the
Supreme
Court
had
termed
the
situation
as
and
grave>
and
asked
West
Bengal
State
Election
Commission
(WBSEC)
whether
it
had
done
any
exercise
to
find
out
if
candidates
were
prevented
from
filing
nominations
in
seats
which
were
won
unopposed
in
the
recent
local
body
polls.
Earlier,
the
West
Bengal
government
had
told
the
court
that
the
row
over
the
recently
concluded
panchayat
polls
in
the
state
has
led
to
a
crisis>
since
the
tenure
of
several
Panchayats
were
over
and
new
bodies
have
not
been
made
functional.
Elections
were
held
in
phases
for
48,650
posts
in
Gram
Panchayats,
825
posts
in
Zilla
Parishads
and
9,217
posts
in
Panchayat
Samitis
and
it
has
been
alleged
that
around
34
per
cent
seats
were
uncontested.
The
panchayat
polls
this
year
led
to
violent
clashes
in
the
state
which
claimed
at
least
twelve
lives
and
injured
several
others.
Rejecting
the
petitions
filed
by
the
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP)
and
the
CPM
challenging
the
West
Bengal
Panchayat
polls,
the
Supreme
Court
Friday
said
the
challenge
must
be
pursued
through
election
petitions
instead.
The
top
court
also
underlined
that
the
charges
of
obstruction
of
elections
is
a
serious