The Calcutta High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition moved by the Trinamool Congress challenging the Election Commission’s decision to deploy Union government employees as counting supervisors during the West Bengal Assembly election results, Bar and Bench reported.
Polling was held in the state in two phases on April 23 and April 29. The votes will be counted on Monday.
On Wednesday, the state chief electoral officer directed that at least one person at every counting station must be a Union government employee. The state’s ruling Trinamool Congress had moved the court against the order.
In his verdict on Thursday, Justice Krishna Rao rejected the claim by the TMC that Union government employees are likely to be susceptible to the suggestion and control of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which is in power at the Centre, Bar and Bench reported.
It is not only the counting supervisor and the counting assistants that will be in the counting room, the judge said. Micro observers, agents of the candidates who are contesting the elections and counting personnel will also be present there, he added.
“Thus, it is impossible to believe the allegation made by the petitioner,” the legal news portal quoted him as saying.
Rao also said that it is the prerogative of the Election Commission to appoint the counting supervisor and counting assistant, either from the state government or the Union government.
The judge added: “This court does not find any illegality for appointing counting supervisor and counting assistant from the Central government/Central PSU [Public Sector Undertaking] employee instead of state government employee.”
The court also said that the Trinamool Congress could file an election petition if it is found that Union government employees are favouring BJP candidates, Bar and Bench reported.
An election petition is a procedure for inquiring into the validity of the polls results.
Earlier on Thursday, Rao had reserved his verdict after hearing arguments from the Trinamool Congress and the Election Commission.
Advocate Kalyan Bandopadhyay, representing the Trinamool Congress, told the court that the direction was beyond the jurisdiction of the state’s chief polling officer as the Representation of People Act only mentions the chief election commissioner and not state-level top officers, Live Law reported.
Bandopadhyay argued that persons who were unrelated to the election process were being brought in only for counting of the votes.
He questioned why Union government employees were being brought in at this stage when the polling process had been conducted with the assistance of state government employees.
The party also told the court that the matter involves a critical question of law, Bar and Bench reported.
The counsel for the state’s chief electoral officer contended that the appointments had been made in accordance with the law, adding that either state or Union government employees could be deployed.
Considering the submissions in his order, the judge noted that Section 19A of the Representation of the People Act provides the delegation of the functions of the Election Commission, Bar and Bench reported.
Therefore, it cannot be said that the additional chief electoral officer did not have the jurisdiction to issue such an order, Rao added. He also noted that counting is to take place under the surveillance of security cameras.
The provisional overall voter turnout in the state was a record 92.4%, the Election Commission said.
Read Scroll’s coverage of the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections here.
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