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EC can't requisition cooperative bank staff for poll work: HC

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Press Trust of India Ahmedabad
The Gujarat High Court today ruled that Election Commission has no power to rope in the staff of a cooperative bank for election-related works as such banks do not fall in the category of state-run bodies.

"It cannot be said that a district cooperative bank would fall in any of the categories mentioned in Section 159(2) of of the Representation of People Act, 1951," HC said.

"The Election Commission has no authority to requisite the staff of a district cooperative bank," said the division bench of Justices M R Shah and R P Dholaria in response to a petition filed by office-bearers of Bhavnagar District Co-operative Bank.
 

The petition had challenged the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal's order to the bank to make the staff available to the District Election Officer for Lok Sabha election duties.

Petitioners pointed out that a district cooperative bank does not get any funds from the government.

As per Karwal, the bank was a cooperative society and hence it was "incorporated under a statute", which put it in the categories mentioned in the Act.

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First Published: Apr 11 2014 | 10:26 PM IST

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