EC has power to transfer officers, counsel tells HC
Times of India | 27 March 2026
Kolkata: EC has the power to transfer state or Centre officers to conduct a "free and fair" election, its counsel told Calcutta HC on Wednesday, while senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee counter-questioned how the state will function for a month without its officers.
The debate on whether EC could transfer 73 state officers before the Bengal assembly elections without discussion with the state govt stems from a PIL filed by Calcutta HC lawyer Arka Kumar Nag. On the second day of hearing before the division bench of Chief Justice Sujoy Paul and Justice Partha Sarathi Sen, both EC and Banerjee, for the petitioner, argued on whether EC could have ordered the transfers.
EC counsel senior advocate Dama Seshadri Naidu cited case laws, arguing the commission's power and jurisdiction in conducting any election— LS or state assembly. He argued that from declaration of election date to completion by declaring results, EC enjoys enormous powers, including coordinating each government department to ensure law and order.
"If all officers are transferred, how will the state run? For the whole month, all development work will stop — is it a fair act of ECI?" Banerjee submitted. The matter will be heard next on March 27.