Kolkata, Nov 6 — A Division Bench of the Calcutta High Court will pronounce a crucial verdict on Friday in the case challenging the recent delimitation of wards in the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), which is scheduled to go to the polls this year-end.
The hearing in the matter was concluded at the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and Justice Arjun Roy on November 4. However, the Division Bench reserved judgment, barring the West Bengal State Election Commission (WBSEC) from announcing the schedule for the forthcoming KMC polls until the court pronounced the order.
Now, on Friday, the Division Bench will pronounce judgment in the matter, and it will be clear whether polling for the formation of the new KMC board will happen by the year-end or not.
Polling for seven urban civic bodies in West Bengal, including KMC and Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC), is likely to take place in the last week of December, and results are expected to be announced in the first week of January next year.
Before that, the delimitation of the wards in KMC had been announced, increasing the number of wards to 209 from 144.
Meanwhile, the Communist Party of India(Marxist) approached the Calcutta High Court, challenging the delimitation process.
In the petition filed by CPI(M) leader and former party Councillor Dipu Das, she claimed that despite some serious objections to the new ward delimitation being raised and a proposal mooted for a 'spot visit' and a public hearing in the area to get the opinions of the citizens, no importance was given to those objections and proposals.
The petitioner also claimed that several aspects, including the population and geographical location of the wards, were not properly considered in the delimitation exercise.
She even claimed that this move was made to give benefits to a specific party.
Initially, the matter was heard at the Calcutta High Court's single-judge bench of Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharya.
However, instead of passing any specific order in the matter, Justice Bhattacharya directed all parties concerned to file affidavits in the matter.
Thereafter, the petitioner approached the Division Bench of Justice Bhattacharya and Justice Roy, challenging the order of the single-judge bench.
The petitioner contended that if the WBSEC were to announce the schedule of the KMC before a clear judgment in the matter, her petition would not have any relevance.
The hearing on the matter in the Division Bench concluded on November 4, and at the end of the hearing, the Division Bench ruled that the WBSEC should not announce the schedule for the KMC polls till the court pronounced its verdict in the matter.