The Calcutta High Court on Friday directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to file detailed affidavits in response to a plea by a union of field workers apprehending adverse consequences on their service conditions due to their deployment on poll-related duties.
The plea was filed by the National Federation of Insurance Field Workers of India, which represents employees of LIC. The petitioner informed the court that its members, who are tasked with achieving business targets in their regular employment, have been repeatedly requisitioned by the Election Commission for electoral work, including the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in West Bengal.
Senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, appearing for the federation, submitted that these employees are in a precarious position. “On the one hand, they are obligated to discharge duties assigned by the constitutional authority [Election Commission], and on the other hand, they face penal consequences from LIC for failing to meet their insurance business targets,” he said.
It was submitted that some employees have already been engaged in election-related work for as long as three months, which has impeded their ability to fulfil their sales assignments.
The petitioner prayed for directions to ensure that the period during which LIC field workers are engaged in EC duty should not be counted against them for failing to achieve their sales targets. They urged the Court to safeguard their service conditions, as their deployment was not voluntary but mandated by the EC’s requisition powers.
Justice Krishna Rao, hearing the matter, questioned the rationale behind penalising employees for failing to meet performance metrics when their time had been occupied by election-related responsibilities assigned by a constitutional authority.
To adjudicate the issue, Justice Rao directed both the Election Commission and LIC to file affidavits within two weeks clarifying their respective positions. The petitioner was granted liberty to respond to these affidavits within a week thereafter.
The matter will next be heard on February 26, 2026.
Appearing for the LIC, counsel informed the court that as many as 1,210 employees had been requisitioned for election duty. He acknowledged that while LIC must comply with such requisitions, it is incurring business losses due to the absence of these field workers.
The EC’s counsel submitted that the requisitioning was limited to selected days and not on a long-term continuous basis.
The petition comes in the backdrop of preparations for the upcoming West Bengal Assembly elections, due in a few months, with the Election Commission currently overseeing the revision of electoral rolls under the SIR exercise.
