(LiveMint)
The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside an order passed by the Calcutta high court allowing filing of online nominations for the upcoming West Bengal panchayat polls. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the elections would be held as per schedule, i.e., on 14 May but asked the state election commission and state government to not declare the results of the unopposed seats till 3 July, to ensure fair elections.
The West Bengal State Election Commission had moved the top court earlier in the day challenging the ruling of a division bench of the Calcutta high court that ordered the commission to treat nominations filed through electronic messaging as legitimate.The commission said under the laws of West Bengal, there is no provision for receiving nominations over email. But the division bench has ruled that under the Information Technology Act of 2000, it should have accepted nominations through emails, and that it could have prevented bloodshed and loss of life.
