Kolkata, Nov 24 (IANS): A division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Friday gave additional time to West Bengal State Election Commissioner (SEC) Rajiva Sinha to reply to the contempt of court rule (notice) issued against him last month in a case related to the three-tier panchayat polls in the state earlier this year.

The division bench of Chief Justice T.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hirnamay Bhattacharya granted the extension until December 15 after Sinha made a personal appearance.

The bench however, maintained that it might summon Sinha again if the necessity arises.

The next hearing in the matter is scheduled for January 8, 2024.

The rule of contempt of court was issued against Sinha by the Calcutta High Court on October 13.

The court had then observed that the SEC can be held responsible for contempt of court and scheduled November 24 as the date for his personal appearance.

At the time, veterans felt that it was an unprecedented development since there had been no past instance of similar rule issued against any SEC in the past.

The rule was issued in a case filed by the Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari accusing the State Election Commission of reluctance in controlling the irregularities in the civic body polls .

In his petition, Adhikari alleged that despite the Calcutta High Court’s clear observation that only the State Election Commission is responsible for any event of violence over the rural civic body polls, there had not been initiative on the latter's part in following the instruction.