IN THE HIGH COURT AT CALCUTTA Constitutional Writ Jurisdiction Appellate Side Ct.19 08.10.26 Item No.8 Sws.M WPA 29451 of 2026 Lata Mandal VS. The State of West Bengal & Ors. Mr. Kallol Bose Mr. Rajdeep Bhattacharjee Mr. Arkadipta Sengupta Mr. Ankit Ghosh …..for the writ petitioner Mr. D.N. Ray, ld. GP Mr. Madhu Jana Ms. Suchitra Mr. Tirthankar Dey Ms. Ria Naska …..for the respondent No. 6 Mr. Sagnik Chatterjee Mr. Shankar Mukherjee …..for the respondent Nos. 7 to 14 1. The affidavit of service as filed today on behalf of the writ petitioner is taken on record. 2. On behalf of the writ petitioner, a copy of the Memo dated 06.10.2026 as issued by the Secretary, Co- operative Election Commission, West Bengal is filed, which is also taken on record. 3. The parties to the instant writ petition are represented by their respective learned counsel, except respondent No.3. 4. On careful perusal of the entire materials as placed before this Court and after hearing learned advocates for the contending parties, it appears to this Court 2 that the grievance of the present writ petitioner is regarding the fixation of date of election of the respondent Nos. 6-14/Co-operative Societies on 10.10.2026, which is the day of ‘Mahalaya’. 5. In course of his submission, Mr. Basu, learned advocate appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner submits before this Court that it is the case of the writ petitioner that in the event the said election of the said Co-operative Societies is held on 10.10.2026, that is on the day of ‘Mahalaya’, there is every possibility that the members of the said Co- operative Societies may face extreme difficulty in casting their vote of the said Co-operative Societies. 6. Drawing attention to a copy of the Memo dated 06.10.2026, it is further submitted by Mr. Basu that the respondent No. 3/authority, considering the real predicament of the members of the said Co-operative Societies has also requested the Deputy Project Director (Credit), Murshidabad DMMU/DRDC and The Returning Officer, All Sangha & Mahasangha Coop Societies Ltd., Murshidabad DMMU/DRDC to fix the schedule of the election of the respondent Nos. 6 to 14/ Co-operative Societies on any other date, so that it will not coincide/clash with the dates of current festivals of the State of West Bengal. 3 7. Learned advocate appearing on behalf of the respondent/State leaves the matter for consideration of this Court. 8. In view of such, this Court directs the respondent No. 3/Co-operative Election Commission to hold the election of the respondent Nos. 6 to 14/Cooperative Societies on 27th October, 2026 considering the fact that the members of the respondent Nos. 6 to 14/Co- operative Societies may remain busy during the ensuing puja/festival of the year 2026. 9. With the aforementioned observation, WPA 29451 of 2026 is disposed of. (Partha Sarathi Sen , J.)