Section 163 Imposed In 7 Areas Of Bengal, Gatherings & Rallies Banned Ahead of Vote Counting
The Kolkata Police has imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in seven areas of West Bengal where ballot papers and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are currently stored ahead of the counting of votes of the highly-charged state Assembly elections.
Kolkata: The Kolkata Police has imposed Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in seven areas of West Bengal where ballot papers and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) are currently stored ahead of the counting of votes of the highly-charged state Assembly elections.
Police said the restrictions have been imposed to prevent obstruction, annoyance or injury to any person lawfully employed, or danger to human life, health or safety, or disturbance of public tranquility, or the occurrence of any riot or affray during the period of storage of the ballot papers and polled EVMs in strongrooms.
Where Has Section 123 Been Imposed?
The restrictions under Section 123 has been imposed in seven areas where ballot papers and EVMs machines are stored ahead of the counting of votes on May 4, the day that will decide the political fate of West Bengal.
The 7 areas are:
- Sahid Kshudiram Bose Road, Kolkata -21
- 20B, Judge's Court Road, Kolkata-27
- Jadavpur, Kolkata 790032
- 4, Diamond Harbour Road, Kolkata-23.
- 17, Lord Sinha Hall, Kolkata-71
- 38/2 Naresh Mitra Sarani (Beltala Road), Kolkata - 20.
- 25/3 Pramathesh Barua Sarani, Kolkata-19
What Is Banned?
As per the restrictions under Section 163 of the BNSS, the unlawful assembly of five or more persons within a periphery of 200 meters of each strongroom is prohibited. Further, the taking out any procession or rally, or the holding of any public meeting or demonstration is banned.
Moreover, people are prohibited from carrying firearms, sharp weapons, lathis, or any object capable of being used as a weapon; explosives, firecrackers or inflammable substances; stones, bricks or any other missiles.
This does not apply on-duty police personnel, members of the deployed armed forces, and government officials engaged in election duty, or to persons specifically authorised by the competent authority.
TMC Alleges EVM Tampering
This comes after Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee spent several hours inside a strongroom on Thursday night amid mounting concerns of a potential tampering of the electronic voting machines (EVM).
As per reports, the facility houses the electronic voting machines (EVM) for the Bhabanipur Assembly segment, where the TMC supremo is in a high-stakes contest against the BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari.
TMC has alleged that the BJP "in active collusion" with the Election Commission "is opening ballot boxes without the presence of any relevant party stakeholders" and is committing “the murder of democracy in broad daylight”.
Published By : Nidhi Sinha
Published On: 1 May 2026 at 16:14 IST