Calcutta High Court declines to pass order on IPS Ajay Pal Sharma till Bengal poll ends

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like The Calcutta high court on Tuesday declined to pass any order on a plea seeking action against Ajay Pal Sharma, an IPS officer from Uttar Pradesh posted as a police observer in West Bengal, stating that it will not pass any order concerning any officer on election duty till April 29, when the second phase of the West Bengal assembly polls is scheduled. Screengrab of video of Ajay Pal Sharma in Falta (@amitmalviya)Also read: Petition filed in Supreme Court for ‘urgent' removal of IPS Ajay Pal Sharma from Bengal over ‘partisan conduct’ Later in the day, a petition was filed the Supreme Court accusing Pal of being “highly partisan and acting contrary to the role prescribed to him”. On Tuesday, a lawyer verbally pleaded for an order restraining Sharma, an Election Commission-appointed police observer for the South 24 Parganas district, from acting in the zone. The lawyer alleged that Sharma was violating the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) by threatening Jahangir Khan, the TMC candidate from Falta, and his family. Also read: Bengal goes for second phase of polling in 142 seats, all eyes on Mamata vs Suvendu in Bhabanipur Justice Krishna Rao clarified that the court would not take any action against any officer on poll duty till April 29, the date the second and final phase of the Bengal elections concludes. When the lawyer alleged that Sharma was intimidating voters, justice Rao asked him to approach the Election Commission if there was any grievance. At this, the lawyer claimed the EC was informed, but there has not been any response so far. The TMC on Monday released a video clip in which Sharma could be purportedly seen warning Khan. Even though Khan was not at his residence at that time, Sharma told his family members to pass on the message to him. Reacting to the development, TMC candidate Khan alluded to the Telugu-language action film ‘Pushpa’ and the Bollywood cop movie ‘Singham’ to say he would not allow “BJP-appointed police officials to threaten voters”. “This is Bengal; if he is ‘Singham’, I am ‘Pushpa’. No amount of threat or coercion by the BJP-appointed police officials from Uttar Pradesh will be allowed in Falta,” he said. Manoj Kumar Agarwal, CEO of West Bengal, told media persons, “Sharma is a senior IPS officer who knows his duties and jurisdiction as a police observer. He only went there with CAPF personnel to warn that no one should engage in violence and intimidation before or on the polling day. He hasn’t taken any action.” Meanwhile, the ECI on Tuesday removed Falta BDO Sourav Hazra hours before Phase 2 polling, citing non-cooperation with police observer Sharma. Hazra was transferred to Purulia. Falta is among the 142 seats going to polls on April 29. On Monday, BJP’s Amit Malviya shared a video on X of Sharma issuing warning against creating mischief, and wrote, “Ajay Pal Sharma... wasted no time in setting the tone, firmly reading the riot act to the family members of Abhishek Banerjee’s close aide, Jehangir Khan.” TMC MP Mahua Moitra on Monday uploaded the same video on X, saying: “Mera Fair & Lovely babua @DripsAjaypal- Hum toh woh log hai joh kaidey se apke Chhota Fanta aur Bada Fanta ka bhi ilaaj kar lete hai!! Herogiri thoda samhaal ke kijiye.” “This is not the BJP’s taste. We refrain from commenting on the TMC MP’s post,” Debjit Sarkar, BJP spokesperson told the media.