Kolkata, April 29: The Kolkata High Court’s division bench denied a request to halt the Indian Election Commission’s (ECI) implementation of preventive arrests ahead of the second phase of assembly elections in West Bengal, scheduled for April 29.
Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen stated that while the ECI could order preventive arrests if necessary, it must also consider the ‘personal liberty’ of individuals. They emphasized that no one should be harassed without a prior record or proven allegations related to election violence.
This ruling came in response to a petition filed by the Trinamool Congress earlier in the day, seeking the court’s intervention to stop the ECI’s unrestricted preventive arrests.
The bench noted that the ECI’s responsibility is to ensure free, fair, and violence-free elections. Therefore, any preventive arrests should only occur after considering personal freedoms.
The division bench also requested the petitioners from the Trinamool Congress to submit a list of individuals who were subject to preventive arrests despite having no prior records or proven allegations of involvement in election-related violence.
On Tuesday, preventive arrests continued ahead of the final phase of voting. The commission reported that police arrested 2,473 individuals across seven electoral districts in the state over the past 60 hours since Sunday morning.
The ECI has emphasized identifying and arresting “potential troublemakers” to prevent any disruption during both phases of the West Bengal assembly elections.
The second phase of the assembly elections will be conducted under unprecedented security measures, involving 2,407 companies of central forces, including personnel from the West Bengal Police, Kolkata Police, Central Armed Police Forces, India Reserve Battalion, and armed police from other states.
Webcasting will be implemented at all polling stations, with results to be announced on May 4.
Arpit Soni has had a passion for journalism since the beginning. Now he has turned this hobby into his profession. Arpit, who is a resident of Udaipur, enjoys editing and writing news related to journalism. He has worked as a Senior Content Producer in several important roles at Bhaskar, Patrika, Pratahkal, Punjab Kesari, and Times. Arpit completed his schooling in Udaipur and Jaipur. He has been working in the media industry for more than 10 years, and his journey is still continuing. ✍️📚
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