- (1.) The instant petition filed under public interest under Article 226 of the Constitution seeks directions to the respondents for the smooth and peaceful conduct of general elections of Municipal Corporations/Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats and bye-election of certain wards of various Urban Local Bodies on 8.6.2012 and 10.6.2012. According to the prayer made by the petitioners, the following directions have been sought: Deployment of Central Police Forces in the polling booths of each ward during voting; Deployment of officials of the Central Government as polling staff to conduct the polling at each booth; The candidates be permitted to conduct videography in the area of the polling booth at their own cost on the day of polling; To appoint independent observers to oversee the polling; and To provide adequate security to the candidates till the declaration of result.
(2.) Without specifically adverting to various instances cited by the petitioners, which allegedly occurred in the past elections, it would be suffice to notice that the petitioners are apprehending that for the smooth and peaceful conduct of the elections of Municipal Corporations/Municipal Councils/Nagar Panchayats and bye-election of certain wards of various Urban Local Bodies in the State of Punjab, which are scheduled to be held on 7 th or 8 th June, 2012 and 10 th June, 2012, adequate and elaborate directions are required to be issued by this Court. It is submitted that on 20.4.2012, the State Government has issued a notification for conducting the elections of four Municipal Corporations in the State viz. Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala. On 16.5.2012, the Punjab State Election Commission has issued the election schedule for the polling on 8.6.2012 and 10.6.2012.
(3.) In response to the notice of motion issued by this Court, a counter in the form of affidavit of Shri M.L. Sharma, Secretary, State Election Commission, Punjab, on behalf of respondent No. 2 has been filed. In para 4 it has been pointed out that to monitor the steps to be taken for holding of the aforementioned elections, a meeting was held on 17.5.2012 under the Chairmanship of the State Election Commissioner, Punjab, which was attended by all Additional Deputy Commissioner (Dev.)-cum-Additional District Electoral Officers in the State of Punjab and discussions were made on various points (R-2/1). During the course of discussion, the issue for videography at the time of polling was raised but it was felt that it may not be possible to arrange the required number of video cameras on the particular date. It has been further stated that in view of the directions issued by a Division Bench of this Court in the case of Inderjit Singh v. Union of India and others v. v. v. (CWP No. 17332 of 2011, decided on 16.9.2011, Annexure P--10) --10) the petitioners may apply to the Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer for permission of videography at their own cost.;