Appearing for West Bengal State Election Commission, senior Advocate Meenakshi Arora, told the court that the observation that the state election commission has not done anything is not correct. She added that the commission cannot requisition any forces but request the State. The order passed by the HC is contrary, she added, as quoted by ANI.
The court observed that it is the responsibility of the state election commission to conduct a free and fair election. The apex court questioned where the forces come from is not the concern of the State Election Commission then how is the petition maintainable.
Senior Advocate Harish Salve, appearing for one of the respondents in the matter, said that there is a problem in the state. He added that the agenda is not the genuine concern of deployment but the agenda is that don’t get central forces.
The high court had previously directed the immediate requisition and deployment of central forces in areas and districts identified as sensitive by the SEC.
The SEC was also instructed to review the state's assessment plan and deploy paramilitary forces wherever the state police force was deemed inadequate.