The Calcutta High Court has temporarily barred the State Election Commission from announcing Kolkata Municipal Corporation election dates until a legal dispute regarding the recent increase in the number of municipal wards is fully resolved.
Calcutta High Court Halts KMC Poll Notification
The Calcutta High Court on Friday issued an interim order restraining the State Election Commission (SEC) from issuing any notifications related to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections until the pending case is resolved. The directive was issued by a vacation division bench comprising Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya and Justice Arjun Roy Mukherjee.
Legal Dispute Over Ward Delimitation
The court’s interim order comes amid legal proceedings concerning the fresh delimitation of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. As per the directive, the State Election Commission cannot issue any notifications concerning the municipal elections until the matter is finally resolved by the court. This comes after the West Bengal Congress wrote to the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) seeking correction of alleged irregularities in the delimitation of wards.
A petition was filed earlier challenging the decision of the West Bengal government to increase the number of wards in KMC. The number has been increased from 144 to 209 ahead of the upcoming polls. On this basis, the Calcutta High Court has now said that the State Election Commission can’t call for KMC polls until the delimitation matter is decided.
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