"Why are taxes not imposed for holding elections if it has a fund crunch?" Justice Biswanath Somadder asked state Advocate General Bimal Chatterjee while hearing a petition by the State Election Commission against the state government over holding of the panchayat elections.
"Every day in the newspapers there is talk of new taxes, so why not taxes for holding elections?" Justice Somadder asked and directed the state to come up with a reply at a later date.
When the AG submitted that it was common knowledge that the state had a resource crunch, Justice Somadder observed "if the resource or lack of resource can hinder holding of free, fair and peaceful elections, why not impose taxes on citizens as it is in their interest that free and fair elections are held.