Kolkata, Aug 4 (IANS) A single-judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, cleared the dock for appointments of teachers in state-run schools as booth level officers (BLOs) by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The single-judge bench of Justice Amrita Sinha ruled that there was nothing objectionable about the commission’s decision to appoint teachers of state-run schools as the BLOs.

She also observed that the legal provisions of the country also allow the assigning of election-related duties to the teachers.

Although the process of recruitment of BLOs has started following notices on this count sent from the commission to the offices of the chief electoral officers (CEOs) of different states, the nature of the work to be done by the BLOs is yet to be clear.

A group of teachers in state-run schools in West Bengal approached the Calcutta High Court apprehending that the teaching staff might be appointed as BLOs on a full-time basis, and they might also be asked to work on holidays and Sundays.

The matter came up for hearing on Monday.

At the end of the hearing, Justice Sinha observed that before the nature of the job of the BLOs was defined, it would be unfair to assume that the appointment will be on a full-time basis only.

She also questioned the objections about working on a holiday or Sunday for a national cause.

During the course of hearing, the counsel of the petitioners asked whether the commission could enforce anything on anyone just because it enjoyed the authority.

He also cited examples of places in the state where 90 per cent of the BLOs appointed were teaching staff in state-run schools.

In his counter-argument, the commission’s counsel said that instead of taking a suo motu decision, the commission consulted the school authorities concerned before appointing teachers as BLOs.

“Not all the teachers of a school need to be appointed as BLOs,” he argued.

–IANS

src/khz