A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India to appoint Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma as an Election Observer for the West Bengal Assembly elections.
The petition filed by one Aditya Das has alleged lack of neutrality and flagged his conduct during election duty.The petitioner has alleged that the officer is "highly partisan" and was threatening political candidates.Sharma, known as Uttar Pradesh's encounter specialist, courted controversy after a video went viral on social media in which he was seen issuing a warning to Trinamool Congress (TMC) candidate Jehangir Khan.
TMC took strong objection to the officer's conduct and criticised the ECI for failing to act against the officers.
Referring to Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the petitioner points out that an Observer is supposed to "watch the conduct of the elections", and is envisaged as a "neutral institutional safeguard, whose presence is meant to reinforce public confidence in the conduct of elections." The petitioner contends that the conduct of Ajay Pal Sharma "stands in stark violation of the functions of the observer."
The plea seeks appropriate directions from the Court to set aside the appointment and to ensure that election observers remain independent and impartial in the discharge of their duties.Two days ago, the BJP State West Bengal Unit had posted on social media that "Ajay Pal Sharma, the encounter specialist and Singham of UP police, is deployed as police observer of South 24 Parganas" and that he had "read the riot act" to TMC candidate Jehangir Ali's family members. The videos of the officer issuing warnings have emerged on social media.The Trinamool Congress has come out in opposition to the appointment of the officer.
A similar petition against Sharma has been filed before the Calcutta High Court as well alleging violation of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by Sharma.The High Court on Tuesday declined to pass any urgent orders on that plea. The High Court refused to entertain a plea challenging the appointment of Sharma, saying that it cannot interfere with the ongoing poll process.
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