The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) filed a petition in Calcutta High Court against the poll-body on Saturday.
WBCPCR has sought a directive to the Election Commission of India to pay compensation to children orphaned by Covid-19. It also sought compensation to the families that lost children to the infection after the announcement of the Assembly polls on February 26.
Advocate Debashish Banerjee, representing the child rights organization said, “The petition has been filed before the court.”
The child rights commission is a statutory body set up under the Protection of Child Rights Act. In the petition, it accused the EC of “wilfully and deliberately putting the lives of about 10 crore in the state into the depth of despair” amid the pandemic by conducting a prolonged, eight-phase election.
The WBCPCR said that it was restricting itself to the “disastrous effect and consequences that have been caused to the children of the state and how the statistics of pre- and post-poll Covid cases reveal that countless number of children have directly and indirectly been affected during the time the general election had been conducted in the state and still continue to suffer”.
Ananya Chakraborti, the WBCPCR chairperson and petitioner, stated, “Covid in our state was under control as we did not participate in any of our festivals last year. Some schools had also resumed classes in February this year. Then, the election was announced. Reports that we have collected from various departments have shown that children were the worst affected in the last couple of months and so we decided to file the case against the EC.”
Pointing finger towards the central government, WBCPCR said in the petition that the large number of central force personnel who came to Bengal on poll duty did not adhere to Covid norms.
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The petition stated, “The Election Commission did not direct for mandatory Covid test of such personnel.”
The WBCPCR blamed the central security personnel of unabashed movement across the state. The child rights body stated that they moved about “uncontrolled and unrestrained” in Bengal, even travelling to the remotest corners.
The petition further accused, “The forces had put up in government and government-aided primary, upper primary and secondary schools, which were requisitioned for such purpose by the Election Commission, remaining nonchalant of the fact that midday meal were handed over from such schools on a regular basis to guardians of students.”
The child rights commission said that the poll body “did not take any step to completely restrict public gatherings during the election campaigns”.
The petition, which has attached copies of Covid bulletins from dates before, during and after the polls, said, “About a week before the first phase of the elections, less than 4,000 active Covid-19 cases were reported in the state of West Bengal and by the time the seventh phase of election was held on April 26, 2021, the state reported near about one lakh active cases. During this period, the number of new cases per day increased from less than 400 to about 16,000.”
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya, senior advocate with Calcutta High Court explained, “The election code of conduct prevails from the time between the date of announcement of the election to the publication of the election results. During this period, the courts have no jurisdiction to entertain any issue relating to the polls. But after the election, petitions can be entertained.”
The CRC panel said that the Election Commission was solely, entirely and absolutely responsible and accountable for the children, firstly those who have lost their lives to Covid19. It was also responsible to those who have survived the disease and are thus compelled to live the rest of their lives with post-Covid syndromes. Thirdly, the ECI is responsible to those who have lost both their parents and guardians and have thus been rendered as orphans, & fourthly to those who are being compelled to live like orphans since their parents and guardians are admitted in medical facilities.
The petition also added, “It cannot be denied that today the lives of so many children are at stake, some have become orphans, opening a gate for illegal adoption, many have been adversely affected, some have become victim of child labour/ child trafficking, their education, their future everything are at stake and the Election Commission of India is fully liable for such violation of child rights, which attracts penal provisions.”
The child rights body also said, “The Election Commission of India must admit to its failure to prevent such massacre and compensate adequately and on the event otherwise, this Hon’ble Court may kindly be pleased to hold the Election Commission of India solely and absolutely accountable and responsible for all those children that the state has lost and for those children who have lost, due to deliberate, wilful, unconcerned, nonchalant, illogical act on the part of the Election Commission of India.”
The CRC has also mentioned that the actions of the election commission were in violation of the provisions of Prohibition of Child Labour Act, 1986.
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The election commission is in a tight spot after Madras High court had blamed it for the rise in the second wave. The Madras high court had stated that the poll body’s officials must be booked under murder charges. After that complaints were filed across the country against ECI. Supreme Court on May 3 had refused to entertain an Election Commission plea to restrain the country’s police from registering murder cases against its officials on the basis of oral observations by Madras High Court that blamed ECI for the Covid resurgence.
The highest court of the land had also ruled out restraining the high courts from making such oral observations or the media from reporting them. Supreme Court had asserted that the media was the “watchdog” of democracy and needed to report such oral observations for the public good.
(With inputs from The Telegraph, Kolkata)
