Calcutta High Court hearing a petition alleging serious malpractices during the Contai municipal poll Tuesday directed the State Election Commission to send CCTV footage on it for forensic audit to CFSL, Delhi.

A division bench presided by Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava directed that the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory(CFSL) will carry out the forensic audit of CCTV footage and ascertain if booth capturing, EVM tampering, forged voting (chhappa voting) or violence had taken place in the polling booths.

The court said that the exercise will have to be completed within six weeks from Tuesday and ordered CFSL to submit the forensic audit report to it in a sealed cover.

“We are of the opinion that not only to ascertain the compliance of earlier orders of this Court, but in the larger public interest and to uphold democratic principles, it is necessary to get forensic audit of CCTV footage of Contai Municipal Election done.” The bench, also comprising Justice R Bharadwaj, directed the State Election Commission to send the CCTV footage of the Contai municipality election, preserved by earlier order of this court, for forensic audit to CFSL, Delhi within 10 days.

It said that CFSL will be free to take the help of any other independent agency or seek other documents from SEC if required with the permission of this court.

The matter will be taken up for further hearing on June 13, the court directed.

Soumendu Adhikari, former chairman of Contai municipality, had moved a petition before the high court alleging malpractices such as booth capturing, forged voting and violence during the elections held on February 27 and prayed for an order to hold fresh polls to the municipality by deploying central forces.

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Soumendu Adhikari had joined BJP after quitting the ruling Trinamool Congress following in the footsteps of elder brother and Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in January last year.

He also made an interim prayer for forensic audit of CCTV footage of Contai municipal election.

On February 23 this court had reposed confidence in the Commissioner, State Election Commission in holding the poll and declined the prayer to deploy paramilitary forces. It had, however, issued directions to install CCTV cameras and preserve the footage.

“After the election, a serious issue has been raised that in spite of the direction of this Court and even after holding the State Election Commission personally responsible, no free and fair elections have been held in the State, specially in Contai municipality,” the court noted.

Opposing the prayer for interlocutory order, counsel for the SEC submitted that the main prayer in the petition to cancel the election cannot be granted in writ jurisdiction, therefore, the interim prayer also cannot be granted.

Advocate General S N Mookherjee, representing the state government, supported the submission of the SEC and stated that when this court does not have jurisdiction to grant final relief, then interim relief cannot be granted.

Holding that there is no dispute to the proposition that election to a municipality cannot be called in question except by way of an election petition, the judges said that at this stage the court is not considering the prayer for setting aside the election.

The bench is only intending to ascertain if the assurance given to this court by the State Election Commissioner while opposing the prayer for deployment of the paramilitary forces, has been fulfilled and free and fair elections have been held.

The court said that on March 11, when this petition was taken up, the prayer made by the counsel OF the petitioner for forensic audit of video footage of CCTV cameras installed in the polling booth was not objected to by the counsel for the SEC.

“The State Election Commission in the earlier proceeding had clearly recorded their no objection for forensic audit. Therefore now the State Election Commissioner is not justified in changing the stand and opposing the prayer.

“The changed stand of the SEC runs counter to its object of holding and ensuring free and fair election,” the bench observed.

The court also said that it fails to understand why the SEC does not want to ascertain if free and fair elections were held or if the allegation of large scale booth capturing and forged voting is correct.

The court said that it is conscious of the bar contained in Article 243-ZG(b) of the Constitution, provisions of the Municipalities Act and various judicial pronouncements on limited scope of judicial intervention in such matters. It said that so far as the objection of respondents was that when main relief in the petition itself cannot be granted then the direction to hold the forensic audit also should not be issued. “We are of the opinion that at this stage, this Court has the responsibility to ascertain if the direction issued by this Court earlier has been complied with by the State Election Commissioner as the earlier direction to preserve CCTV footage of polling was not an empty formality.” The bench said it is worth noting that in the present case the election of any particular member of the Contai municipality has not been challenged but prayer is to cancel the entire election and to conduct fresh polls by deployment of paramilitary forces.

“Such a general prayer in an election petition cannot be made,” the bench observed.