Kolkata: The Election Commission has told the Supreme Court it does not want SIR hearings at panchayat offices, citing allegations of violence and an unsafe working environment at the local level, officers at the Bengal Chief Electoral Office said on Sunday.In a counter-affidavit filed in response to petitions by Trinamool MPs Derek O’Brien and Dola Sen, the poll panel said a series of incidents indicated that the panchayat-level atmosphere was not conducive to conducting SIR and raised concerns over the prevailing law-and-order situation.
The affidavit, submitted on Saturday, the final scheduled day of the SIR hearings, cited incidents from areas including Itahar, Farakka and Chakulia. It said micro-observers, booth-level officers and commission officials feared for their lives and described Farakka and Chakulia as turning into “virtual battlefields” during the hearings.The commission also referred to images and reports, including the burning of a BDO’s office.
