Kolkata, 20 April (H.S.) : The Election Commission has moved the Calcutta High Court challenging a single bench order that set aside its decision to appoint college professors as Presiding Officers for the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

The appeal was filed on Monday before a division bench comprising Justice Shampa Sarkar and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta. The bench granted permission to file the appeal, and the matter is likely to be heard on Tuesday.

Earlier, a single bench of Justice Krishna Rao had quashed the Commission’s decision to appoint assistant and associate professors from colleges and universities as Presiding Officers for polling duty.

In its order, the single bench observed that the Election Commission had failed to justify why professors were required to be assigned such duties. The court also stated that college teachers could not be deployed for election-related work that was not commensurate with the dignity of their posts without proper justification.

The case was filed by a section of professors who questioned whether teaching professionals could be compelled to serve as Presiding Officers at polling stations.

For the upcoming Assembly elections, the Commission had decided to appoint officials at the assistant professor level as Presiding Officers. Notifications had already been issued, and special training sessions had commenced. Several professors had either completed the training or were in the process of undergoing it.

The single bench had clarified that the order would not apply to those who had already completed their training, and they would still be required to perform election duty.

During earlier proceedings, the Election Commission argued that more than 90,000 polling stations across the state required a large number of Presiding Officers. It also pointed out that professors had performed similar responsibilities during the previous Assembly elections.

However, the court struck down the decision on the ground that the Commission had failed to present clear justification for the appointments. The matter will now be reconsidered by the division bench.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh