Kolkata, March 23 -- The Election Commission of India (ECI) has transferred 79 officials in West Bengal since March 15, senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee told the Calcutta High Court on Monday while representing a petitioner who called the orders "unprecedented, arbitrary, and malafide," according to lawyers who attended the hearing.

Among those transferred are chief secretary Nandini Chakraborty, director general of police Peeyush Pandey and Kolkata Police commissioner Supratim Sarkar. A bench, led by the Chief Justice, heard the petition.

Banerjee, who is also a Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member, argued that Article 324 of the Constitution is a "plenary provision" that gives ECI the power to discharge its functions and conduct electio...