Bombay HC to unaided school bodies: Inform teachers to cooperate with ECI request for poll duty

The bench passed an order while hearing an interim application by Election Commission of India (ECI), in petition by associations, seeking withdrawal of its statement of no coercive steps against members of the said associations in regard to notices for poll duty.

The HC had on April 5 disposed of the plea by the forum against notices issued by the Thane Collector seeking information of staff from schools for the Lok Sabha elections duty.

The said order was passed after the poll body had assured the court that no coercive steps are intended against the members of the petitioners and till April 5, no requisition notice under Section 159 (Staff of certain authorities to be made available for election work.) of the Representation of People Act, 1951 had been issued to them.

On Wednesday, ECI told a bench of Justices Atul S Chandurkar and Jitendra S Jain that in spite of the April 5 order, members of the associations did not furnish information sought for.

Moreover, nearly 163 teachers from 10 schools and junior colleges in Navi Mumbai, most of them being members of the petitioner-associations, remained absent for the training programme.

Senior advocate Ashutosh Kumbhakoni and advocate Akshay Shinde for the applicant ECI and Electoral Roll Registration Office- Belapur Legislative Assembly, submitted that April 5 order had been wrongly interpreted by the petitioners to mean that no coercive action will be taken against any person and therefore appropriate clarification was required.

The ECI submitted that such a statement was made by it in view of the statement by the associations through senior advocate Mihir Desai that it would give list of all its members to the Thane district Collector and also persuade its members to volunteer themselves for undertaking election duties on the dates scheduled as the training sessions were to begin from April 6.

Directing members of the Associations to provide information and inform teachers to cooperate with requests for poll duty, the bench noted, “The ECI statement recorded April 5 order is restricted to those members of the associations who have received the notices and who have not complied with the directions sought for by the applicant/respondent Commission through the concerned Collector.”

It added, “The said statement is not applicable to the staff of the non-applicants/ petitioners members as well as any other person who is not a member of the petitioners/respondents.”

Keeping all legal contentions of the parties in the matter open, the bench posted further hearing to April 15.