Namita Paul Dey And ORS. v. State Of West Bengal And ORS.

S/L Item No. 03 10.08.2023 KOLE WPA 19438 of 2023 Namita Paul Dey & Ors.

-Vs.- The State of West Bengal & Ors.

Mr. Sourav Chatterjee, Mr. M. Mukherjee, Mr. S. Nag, Mr. P. Roy, Mr. A. Tiwari, Mr. S. Bhattacharjee ... for the petitioners.

Mr. Amitesh Banerjee, Sr. Adv.

Ms. I. Banerjee, Mr. Tarak Karan, ... for the State.

This is an application under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for a direction upon the respondent authorities to deploy adequate police security so that the petitioners can participate in the Board formation process for the Gram Panchayat concerned scheduled for tomorrow i.e., on August 11, 2023 at 11.00 a.m. Learned Counsel appearing for the petitioner submits as follows. The petitioners are the winning candidates in the gram panchayat elections. They belong to the opposition political party. They are being harassed and intimidated by the miscreants belonging to the ruling party so that they cannot participate in the board formation process. Learned Counsel for the State submits as follows. The allegations made in the writ petition are denied. However, without prejudice, if the petitioners fear for their lives, they can report to the local police station seeking adequate police

arrangement so that they may be escorted by the police to the respective gram panchayat.

I have heard learned counsel for the parties and have perused the writ petition.

It appears that the petitioners are the winning candidates in respect of the Jumki gram panchayat. Board is to be formed on 11.08.2023 at 11.00 a.m.. The petitioners apprehend that the local miscreants might try their best to prevent them from forming the board.

In view of the above and in the interest of justice, I direct the petitioners to report to the officer-in-charge of Egra Police Station on 11.08.2023 at 09.00 a.m. so that the said officer can make necessary arrangements for adequate police protection to escort the petitioners to the venue of the board formation meeting at Jumki Gram Panchayat office. Even thereafter, the respondents police authorities shall maintain a strict vigil at the locale and ensure that no breach of peace takes place.

With these observations, the writ petition stands disposed of.

Since affidavits have not called for, the allegations made in the writ petition are deemed not to be admitted by the respondents.

Urgent photostat certified copy of this order be supplied to the parties, if applied for, as early as possible. All parties are to act on the server copy of this order duly downloaded from the official website of this court. (Jay Sengupta, J.)