[Bhawanipur bye-polls] Chief Secretary a public servant, not a party spokesperson: Calcutta High Court

The Chief Secretary of a State is a public servant who is obligated to discharge his duties in accordance with law, irrespective of the party in power, the Calcutta High Court said on Tuesday..A Chief Secretary should not act like a party spokesperson and it is not his job to ensure that a particular person comes to power in the State, the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Rajesh Bindal and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said."He is a public servant, who is to discharge his duties in terms of provisions of law, whosoever may be in power. He is not to ensure that any particular person should come in power and in the absence there would be ‘constitutional crisis’," the Court said..The observations came in a judgment relating to the Bhawanipur bye-elections scheduled to be held on September 30. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is seeking election to the West Bengal Legislative Assembly from Bhawanipur.Banerjee had lost the April 2021 elections from Nandigram constituency to BJP's Suvendu Adhikari and has to be re-elected to the assembly within six months for her to continue as Chief Minister.The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) winning candidate from Bhawanipur, Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay had then vacated the seat so that the Chief Minister could get elected from there.The Chief Secretary had then written to the Election Commission stating that there would be a constitutional crisis in the State if elections are not held on priority, since the current Chief Minister is planning to seek election to the assembly from the said constituency. The Election Commission had then scheduled the bye-elections for September 30.A petition then came to be filed before the High Court challenging the decision of the EC to prioritise the bye-elections..The petitioner Sayan Banerjee contended that merely because one person is not elected, it will not create any constitutional crisis as any other elected member of the assembly can be sworn in as leader of the party and consequently, the Chief Minister. He further pointed out that the Chief Secretary had behaved like a spokesperson of the party.The Court agreed with this submission. In its judgment, the Court opined that the Chief Secretary projected himself to be more as a servant of the political party in power than a public servant by stating that there would be a constitutional crisis in case the Bhawanipur bye-election is not held."What constitutional crisis the Government could face with one person losing or winning election, was not explained. How the Chief Secretary knew that the respondent No. 5 was to contest election from Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency? He was not a party spokesman or a returning officer," the Court said.The Court proceeded to record its strong reservation about the conduct of the Chief Secretary in writing a letter to the Election Commission. It, nevertheless, dismissed the plea, refusing to interfere with the Election Commission's decision..It further recorded,"We also do not record any finding on the issue that an Election Petition may or may not be maintainable after the result of the Assembly is declared. Any of the losing party shall have the right to avail of his/her appropriate remedy to challenge the election on the grounds available in law."The matter will be heard next on November 17, 2021..Senior Advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya appeared for the petitioner, while Advocate General SN Mookherjee represented the Chief Minister..[Read Judgment]