Why Calcutta High Court restrained Election Commission from notifying KMC polls

The vacation bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday restrained the West Bengal State Election Commission from proceeding with the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) elections, which were slated to take place at the end of the year. The High Court ruled that until a decision is reached on the pending challenge to the ward delimitation—increasing the number of municipal wards from 144 to 209—the polls cannot be held. 

The division bench comprising Justice Arjun Roy Mukherjee passed the order on Friday, while hearing an appeal which challenged the single bench's refusal to grant interim relief.

A notice was issued in September by the West Bengal government proposing to carve out 65 new wards. The new wards were to be carved out by amending Schedule II of the KMC Act.

Dipu Das, a former KMC councillor during CPI(M) rule between 2005 and 2010, filed an appeal against the October 29 order by Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya refusing to stay the state's delimitation process. Das argued that the single bench judge failed to examine all aspects raised in the petition. In refusing the stay, the single bench had stated that delimitation can be challenged only on limited grounds, given the constitutional bar under the Indian Constitution against courts interfering in the electoral process. 

Advocate General Sujit Nath challenged the maintainability of Das’s appeal at this stage when there were no objections when the notification was issued in September.

Das contended that it was about safeguarding the law and that the exercise of demolition was being proposed without the presence of an elected municipal board. Former Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim stepped down from his post after the BJP government came into power, citing difficulty in conducting day-to-day affairs while many councillors too quit their posts. Smita Pandey was then installed as the Municipal Commissioner until fresh elections took place at the end of the year.

Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, a former CPI(M) MP, represented Das and termed the delimitation process illegal. He pointed out that the bill amending the 1980 KMC Act was introduced in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly two days after the notification had already been issued. He further argued that under the KMC Act, the KMC Commissioner lacks the legal authority to exercise such powers. Bhattacharyya also highlighted the heavy burden the delimitation process would place on the state exchequer

The West Bengal government proposed delimitation aiming to meet rapid urbanisation and balance demographic shifts in southern and eastern fringes of the state.