The SC allowed the notification of results of over 20,000 panchayat seats that were won by TMC unopposed in May.
However, the SC set aside the Calcutta high court order permitting filing of nomination through electronic means, including Whatsapp and e-mail.
The opposition had alleged that their candidates were obstructed from filing nomination papers by the ruling Trinmool Congress.
Earlier on August 20, the Supreme Court had said that it will have to consider the issue that there was no contest on over 20,000 seats in recently-held elections for local bodies in West Bengal.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud had reserved its verdict on the pleas filed by the West Bengal State Election Commission and parties like the BJP and CPI (M).
Out of a total 58,692 posts for gram panchayat village, zilla parishad and panchayatsamiti, 20,159 had remained uncontested in the violence-marred local polls in the state held in May this year.
The apex court had said that the issue of huge number of uncontested seats has been bothering it.
The poll panel, however, argued that 33 per cent of nearly 50,000 panchayat seats going uncontested in the state was not "an alarming situation".
It had cited Uttar Pradesh where almost 57 per cent panchayat seats went uncontested and the figure was 51, 67 and 27.6 per cent in Haryana, Sikkim and Andhra Pradesh respectively.
from Times of India https://ift.tt/2o3jPJ4
