Panel comes under fire on polling officials for failure to submit notification

Kolkata: Calcutta HC judge, Justice Krishna Rao, on Thursday slammed the Election Commission for not issuing a notification stating whether assistant professors can be appointed as presiding polling officers in the assembly elections. “You (EC) can also appoint judges as polling officers under Section 26 (of the Representation of the People Act)… I am ready to go,” he said, giving the Election Commission another chance to obtain facts to support its action.A group of assistant professors challenged the Election Commission order directing them to join as presiding officers for the Bengal elections. He argued that the Election Commission had in a previous order said, “Group A-equivalent senior officers, including teaching staff of universities and colleges, should not be deputed for polling duties in the polling station premises without specific reasons to be recorded in writing by the DEO…”Section 26 states that a DEO may appoint a presiding officer for each polling station as required, but shall not appoint any person employed by or working for a candidate. Justice Rao, after hearing the arguments of the Election Commission’s counsel, said, “We can also go to the polling office… This is not a joke, every time you are changing your notification.”Vikas Ranjan Bhattacharya, representing the assistant professors, said that their main demand is not to assign the duty of the presiding officer. “There is a group of officers; let them be appointed. Teachers should not be humiliated like this.”Highlighting that the demand was for March 19 and the professor had come to the court very late, the Election Commission’s counsel said, “At this stage, interfering in the entire process will stall the elections.” On this, Justice Rao said that even if it is a day earlier, the petition should be decided as per law. “Show me the notification by which they are demanded.”When the Election Commission’s counsel pointed to the Supreme Court order appointing judicial officers for the SIR, Justice Rao said, “Okay, so I am referring the matter to the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court order is being used by the Election Commission in this way.”The case will be heard again on Friday.