PIL in Supreme Court challenges Ajay Pal Sharma’s role as Bengal poll observer

APublic stake judicial proceeding (PIL) has been filed in the sublime margaret court of bharat challenging the appointment of Uttar Pradesh cadre Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Ajay Pal Sharma as a ‘poll observer’ in the ongoing West Bengal elections, alleging intimidation and partisan conduct against an All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) candidate that has undermined a level playing field.The petition, filed by Aditya Das, a West Bengal voter, on Tuesday said that upon assuming charge as ‘poll observer’ in South 24 Parganas, Sharma is intimidating and threatening AITC candidate Jahangir Khan of Falta constituency and his family members, seeking urgent orders to replace Sharma even as the second phase of voting in the state completed on Wednesday.On Monday, a video purportedly showing Sharma, posted as a poll observer in West Bengal, allegedly threatening Khan and his family, went viral on social media. Khan reacted to the threat by alluding to the Telugu action film ‘Pushpa’ and the Bollywood movie ‘Singham’ and said he would not allow “BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-appointed” police officers to threaten voters.“Sharma has engaged in acts of intimidation, undue influence, and partisan conduct, including threats directed at political candidates, thereby vitiating the electoral environment,” the petition said. It questioned the objective behind appointing him as an observer who is currently serving in Uttar Pradesh and is known to be an “encounter specialist” popularly called the “Singham of UP”.“No provision of law authorises a police observer to visit the residence of a candidate, in the absence of any complaint or FIR, and to publicly intimidate or threaten the candidate or his family members, particularly during the subsistence of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC),” the petition said.People aware of the matter said that the petitioner’s lawyers made several attempts to get an order for urgent listing of the matter. The Registrar of the top court who handles requests for urgent listing of cases was also approached but an order for listing was not forthcoming from the Chief Justice of India.Das had approached the Calcutta high court on Tuesday which refused to entertain the petition as the election process is underway.The petition said that under Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act (ROPA), 1951, the Election Commission can nominate an observer “to watch the conduct of elections” and to perform functions entrusted by it. “The observer is envisaged as a neutral institutional safeguard, whose presence is meant to reinforce public confidence in the fairness of elections. However, in the present case, the conduct of Respondent No. 4 (Sharma) stands in stark violation of functions of the observer,” the petition filed through advocate Sanchit Garga said.Sharma assumed charge on April 25, soon after the conclusion of the first phase polls on April 23. “The appointment of Respondent No. 4 has not been done in the public interest and it is definitely not a step taken by the Election Commission of India to ensure the conduct of a free and fair election,” the petition added.Das said that the ECI’s actions in appointing Sharma and the latter’s subsequent conduct are “manifestly arbitrary, mala fide, and discriminatory”, resulting in the “distortion of a level playing field during the electoral process.” It further stated that the observer’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the role assigned under the Representation of the People Act (ROPA); instead of instilling public confidence, he is vitiating the electoral environment and undermining the rule of law.