On Friday, the Calcutta High Court set aside an order from the Election Commission of India (ECI) that appointed assistant and associate professors from government colleges as presiding officers for polling booths during the Bengal Assembly elections scheduled for April 23 and 29. The court ruled that the ECI did not provide sufficient justification for these appointments, which contradict the ECI's own 2010 directive stating that professors can only be assigned to such roles under extraordinary circumstances. This decision arose from a petition filed by Rupa Banerjee, who challenged her appointment. Following this, several other professors also approached the court, asserting that their positions fall under the Group A category, which should exempt them from such duties. In defense, senior advocate Soumya Majumdar, representing the ECI, argued that the need for a large workforce to manage approximately 90,000 polling booths across Bengal necessitated flexibility in staffing, despite the existing guidelines.