Supreme Court Declines AITC Plea on Vote Counting Oversight in West Bengal

The Supreme Court refused to intervene in an AITC plea contesting the Calcutta High Court's rejection of its challenge against Central government employees overseeing the West Bengal vote counting process. The Court upheld the inclusion of state and central staff, deeming ECI's circular valid and without external influence.

The Supreme Court has declined to issue directions on a plea from the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) about vote counting in the West Bengal assembly elections. The plea contended that the Calcutta High Court improperly dismissed its challenge to the deployment of Central government employees as counting supervisors.

Despite hearing the urgent matter on a Saturday, Justices P.S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi ruled against intervening, citing the Election Commission of India's (ECI) assurance that its circular will be fully implemented, including the inclusion of both state and central personnel in the counting process.

The conflict began with an April 13 directive from West Bengal's Additional Chief Electoral Officer, which mandated Central government participation in vote counting. AITC argued this was biased and unprecedented, as other states were exempt. However, the court found no bias, accepting ECI's clarification on supervision duties.