SC rejects AITC plea on counting supervisors, Amit Malviya hails move

BJP's Amit Malviya hailed the SC's decision not to intervene in AITC's plea on counting supervisors for the Bengal polls. He termed it a 'judicial rebuff for Mamata Banerjee,' saying it validates the integrity of the counting process.

BJP Hails SC Decision on AITC Plea

BJP leader Amit Malviya on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court's decision not to pass any directions on plea filed by the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) challenging the Calcutta High Court order, which had rejected its petition against the alleged deployment of only Central government employees as voter counting supervisors in the West Bengal assembly election. Malviya said that the decision to "not intervene" sends a clear message that any "attempts to influence or cast doubt over the integrity of the counting process will not find easy validation."

"In yet another legal setback, the Supreme Court of India has refused to intervene. The Trinamool Congress had approached the Court challenging the exclusion of State government employees from vote counting supervisor duties, and had sought an urgent hearing," Malviya posted on X. "Another day, another judicial rebuff for Mamata Banerjee," his post added.

Supreme Court Declines to Intervene

A special Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi was constituted on a Saturday to hear the matter urgently, as vote counting is scheduled to begin on May 4, and the petitioner argued that any delay would render the plea infructuous.

After hearing both sides, the Court declined to issue any directions in the case. It recorded the submission of the ECI that its April 13 circular would be implemented in full. The Court noted that this includes the deployment of State government employees along with Central government and PSU personnel in the vote counting process, as claimed by AITC. The Bench, therefore, disposed of the matter without passing further orders, except reiterating the statement made by the ECI's counsel.

Origin of the Dispute

The dispute arises from a communication dated April 13, 2026, issued by the Additional Chief Electoral Officer, West Bengal, which directed that at least one among the counting supervisor or counting assistant at each table must be a Central Government or Central PSU employee for the Assembly election vote counting.

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