The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed West Bengal DGP to conduct an "enquiry" into allegations of massive polling at a booth in New Town area in North 24 Parganas district on the day of rural polls on July 8 despite a vote boycott there.
Some opposition candidates and voters moved the high court claiming that despite not being permitted to exercise their franchise, huge number of votes were found to have been cast during counting of votes of Jyangra-Hatiara II village panchayat in North 24 Parganas district.
Justice Amrita Sinha directed the DGP to conduct an enquiry to ascertain the allegation of the petitioners and submit a report on the next date of hearing.
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The court said it will be open to the DGP to engage a responsible officer to conduct the enquiry, but the report will have to be filed by the DGP.
The returning officer of Rajarhat block was also directed to file a report in the form of an affidavit by dealing with the contention of the petitioners.
The petitioners claimed that there was a call to boycott the vote in the area as it was claimed that since the place was under the New Town Kolkata Development Area (NKDA), it should not remain part of a village panchayat.
It was claimed that no one could cast their votes in the area owing to the boycott call, but at the time of declaration of results, it was found that people voted in large numbers.
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The petitioners maintained that voting in large numbers could not have been possible since people were not permitted to leave their residences on the date of polling.
It was further claimed that despite a complaint at the police station concerned, there was no response from the authorities.
