SC dismisses NHRC’s plea on deploying observers for WB rural polls

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea by the NHRC challenging an order of the Calcutta High Court setting aside the human rights body’s directive deputing its official for identifying sensitive constituencies and deploying micro-observers for the recently concluded panchayat polls in West Bengal. A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said interference by the NHRC affected the autonomy and independence of the State Election Commission (SEC).