Supreme Court Declines Intervention in TMC Plea on Counting Personnel for Bengal Polls

May 2, 2026 : The Supreme Court of India on Saturday declined to pass any further directions on a plea filed by the All India Trinamool Congress challenging the dismissal of its petition by the Calcutta High Court. The plea had questioned a circular issued by the Election Commission of India regarding the deployment of personnel for vote counting in West Bengal.

A special bench comprising Justices P. S. Narasimha and Joymalya Bagchi observed that the Election Commission is fully empowered to determine the composition of counting staff. The bench noted that the Commission’s circular dated April 13 could not be termed legally flawed.

During the hearing, the Election Commission clarified that the circular provides for a balanced deployment of both central and state government personnel. It assured the court that concerns raised by the Trinamool Congress about possible irregularities were unfounded and that the guidelines would be implemented strictly.

The bench further emphasized that the Commission retains the discretion to draw counting personnel even from a single pool, including central government employees, and such a decision cannot be faulted in law.

Polling for the 294-member West Bengal Assembly was conducted in two phases on April 23 and April 29, with counting scheduled to take place on May 4.

Earlier, the Calcutta High Court had dismissed the Trinamool Congress petition, holding that there was no illegality in the Election Commission’s decision to appoint counting supervisors and assistants from central government departments and public sector undertakings instead of relying solely on state government staff.