The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday directed the State Election Commission (SEC) to deploy central forces in sensitive districts of West Bengal immediately and ensure free and fair conduct of the panchayat polls.

The SEC has identified seven districts – East Midnapore, Murshidabad, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly, South and parts of North 24 Parganas and Birbhum – as sensitive.

A high court bench, led by Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam, also directed the state to install CCTVs at the polling booths. At booths that do not have CCTVs, the entire process should be video-graphed, the court said, acting on a public interest litigation filed by BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari. However, the high court did not issue directions to the SEC to extend the dates for filing of nomination papers, which was also sought by Adhikari. The bench said the discretion to extend the time lies entirely with the SEC.

The state has informed the court that it has arranged 15 battalions of security forces from other states.