The Calcutta high court on Thursday dismissed two petitions filed by All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) leaders related to West Bengal Assembly elections counting centres, stating that it did not find any “illegality” or “merit” in the two writ petitions.

HC dismisses TMC pleas on Bengal poll counting, backs use of central PSU staff and shifting of counting centre

A bench of Justice Krishna Rao was hearing petitions filed by TMC lawmaker Kalyan Banerjee and another by TMC MLA and state minister Javed Khan.

Banerjee, a TMC MP and senior advocate, challenged a clause in a communication issued by the poll panel on April 30, which said that “at least one among the counting supervisor and counting assistant at each counting table shall be a Central Government/Central Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) employee”.

“The additional chief electoral officer of West Bengal had issued the impugned communication without any jurisdiction,” Banerjee told the court.

“The petitioner has not disclosed any document or produced any evidence to establish that if Central Government/Central PSU employees are appointed as counting supervisors/counting assistants, the petitioner will be prejudiced in any way,” Jishnu Chowdhury, senior advocate appearing for the poll panel, told the court.

“This court does not find any merit in the present writ application. Accordingly, the petition is dismissed,” the bench said.

The bench also dismissed another petition in which Khan moved the court questioning whether a Returning Officer (RO) can change the venue of a counting centre.

“This court did not find any illegality in shifting the counting centre from Gitanjali Stadium to Viharilal College,” Justice Rao said.