PIL In Supreme Court Seeks Removal Of UP IPS Officer Ajay Pal Sharma As Election Observer In West Bengal Polls

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed before the Supreme Court challenging the decision of the Election Commission of India to appoint Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma as an Election Observer for the West Bengal Assembly elections.

The petitioner has alleged that the officer is "highly partisan" and was threatening political candidates.

Referring to Section 20B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, the petitioner points out that an Observer is supposed to "watch the conduct of the elections", and is envisaged as a "neutral institutional safeguard, whose presence is meant to reinforce public confidence in the conduct of elections." The petitioner contends that the conduct of Ajay Pal Sharma "stands in stark violation of the functions of the observer."

The plea seeks appropriate directions from the Court to set aside the appointment and to ensure that election observers remain independent and impartial in the discharge of their duties.

The petition was filed by one Aditya Das last night.

Two days ago, the BJP State West Bengal Unit had posted on social media that "Ajay Pal Sharma, the encounter specialist and Singham of UP police, is deployed as police observer of South 24 Parganas" and that he had "read the riot act" to TMC candidate Jehangir Ali's family members. The videos of the officer issuing warnings have emerged on social media.

The Trinamool Congress has come out in opposition to the appointment of the officer.

Yesterday, the Calcutta High Court refused to entertain a plea challenging the appointment of Sharma, saying that it cannot interfere with the ongoing poll process.

Case : Aditya Das v. Election Commission | Diary No. 26135/2026