-The Hindu There is a Constitutional mandate to hold elections and they should not be postponed, says Court The Calcutta High Court rejected on Monday the West Bengal government's appeal to stay an earlier verdict by a single bench on holding rural polls in 17 districts but observed that hearing on the matter cannot continue for months on end. There is a Constitutional mandate to hold elections and they should not be...

-NDTV The Calcutta High Court today disposed off an appeal by the state government against the order of the single bench last Friday by ordering panchayat elections by July 15 in three phases with forces from other states and central forces if necessary. The court also asked the state to provide 400 observers. Earlier, the state had said they would provide only 256. The court also ordered that the state government, in consultation...

-The Hindu Kolkata: A day after the Calcutta High Court ruled in favour of the State Election Commission in a dispute over rural polls, West Bengal Panchayat Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the government would take the issue to the Supreme Court if a Division Bench upheld the single-judge's order. ‘Verdict unrealistic' Calling the verdict "unrealistic," Mr. Mukherjee told journalists on Saturday it was impossible for any government to implement the order. The High Court...

-The Telegraph Calcutta: The Bengal government will seek Calcutta High Court's permission to appoint administrators to run the three-tier panchayat system if rural polls can't be held before the term of the elected bodies ends. The term of most gram panchayats - the lowest tier - ends on June 25. If new bodies are to be formed before that, polls have to be notified by May 17, a possibility officials at Writers'...

-The Hindu Kolkata: In a setback to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta High Court on Friday directed that panchayat polls in 17 districts be held in three phases with the government fully compensating the shortfall in security forces to the satisfaction of the State Election Commission. Justice Biswanath Somadder rejected the government's arguments on all the contentious issues in its writ petition and directed that it inform the Commission of...