HC junks EC decision to appoint assistant professors as presiding officers

Kolkata: Calcutta HC Friday quashed the Election Commission’s move to requisition assistant professors of state colleges for the duty of presiding officers at polling stations in Bengal, pulling up the poll panel for not placing any material to show why their deployment was unavoidable.

The order, however, will not apply to assistant professors who have already attained training and showed willingness to join. Justice Krishna Rao said despite being given repeated opportunities, the EC failed to produce any document to show the unavoidable circumstances on the basis of which it had taken the decision of appointing assistant professors as presiding officers.

The EC counsel told the court there are 90,000 booths, and 1,80,000 to 1,90,000 presiding officers are needed to be kept ready. Assignment of duty was given on March 19, and the writ was filed on April 8, the counsel said. The petitioners’ counsel, senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, argued that ECI’s circular dated Feb 16, 2010, categorically mentioned that Group A equivalent senior officers, including teaching staff of universities and colleges, should not be drafted for ‘polling duties’ without specific reasons to be recorded in writing by the DEO where such appointment becomes unavoidable.
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