Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday declined to intervene in allegations against Election Commission-appointed police observer Ajay Pal Sharma, saying it would not pass any order concerning officers on poll duty until April 29, when the second phase of the West Bengal assembly elections is scheduled.The observation came after a lawyer made a verbal plea before Justice Krishna Rao, seeking to restrain Sharma, a Uttar Pradesh-cadre IPS officer, often called by name ‘Singham’ for his policing style, deployed in South 24 Parganas, from functioning in the area. The lawyer alleged that Sharma was violating the Model Code of Conduct and intimidating voters.Refusing to entertain the request, Justice Rao said the court would not interfere in matters involving officials engaged in election duty during the polling period, reported PTI.When the petitioner pressed claims of voter intimidation, the court advised approaching the Election Commission for redressal. The lawyer responded that the poll panel had already been informed but no action had been taken so far.The plea comes amid a political row over Sharma’s actions in the district, where Trinamool Congress supporters have accused him of overstepping his mandate, while the officer has maintained that he is acting on complaints of voter intimidation. The political row escalated in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas on Tuesday, with TMC supporters staging protests and accusing Election Commission-appointed police observer Ajay Pal Sharma of “intimidating” party workers ahead of the second phase of polling.Protests were reported in Falta, where supporters raised slogans outside the residence and election office of TMC candidate Jahangir Khan against the officer.Sharma is among the observers deployed by the Election Commission to ensure free and fair polling in the April 29 phase.
