Kolkata/New Delhi, April 23 -- The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday stayed an order from the Election Commission's police observer, who had directed the West Bengal director general of police (DGP) to take preventive action against several citizens terming them as "troublemakers" ahead of the first-phase polling in the eastern state. A division bench of chief justice Sujoy Paul and justice Partha Sarathi Sen held that the police observer had "erred in issuing a blanket direction by treating certain citizens as troublemakers" and stayed the April 21 order till June 30. The order came on a PIL filed by advocate Md Danish Farooqui, alleging that people's fundamental right to liberty would be affected by the order. "In our prima facie view the police observer in the office of CEO of West Bengal has erred in issuing a blanket direction by treating certain citizens as 'troublemakers'. As an interim measure, we deem it proper to stay the effect and operation of the impugned order dated April 21 till the last day of June, 2026 or till further order whichever is earlier," the court ordered. Senior advocate Kalyan Bandyopadhyay, who is also a TMC lawmaker, represented the petitioner. "ECI has no authority, jurisdiction or power to call certain persons 'troublemakers' and issue direction to the police authorities to take steps against them," he argued in the court, adding that the list contains the names of about 800 people and many of these persons are elected representatives, such as MPs, MLAs, councillors, and members of panchayat bodies and municipalities. Senior advocate DS Naidu, representing ECI, submitted that the poll panel's whole endeavour is to ensure free, fair and peaceful elections. "In order to do the same, concerned police authorities are reminded of their duties. ECI has not directed the police authorities to do something without following due recourse of law," Naidu said. In its April 21 memo-titled "Preventive action against persons involved in voter intimidation - List of trouble makers enclosed - Immediate directions to all field functionaries"-to the DGP, the police observer in the CEO office said: "It has been observed from various quarters that the persons whose names are mentioned in the enclosed list are actively involved in intimidating voters and creating disturbance in the electoral process in the respective assembly constituencies and police stations... " Following the directive, Central Armed Police Forces(CAPF) personnel deployed for election security duty in West Bengal visited homes of people flagged as "troublemakers" and held flag marches in their neighbourhood while urging local residents to vote freely. On Tuesday night, a CAPF team visited the residence of Asmaiul Shaikh in Murshidabad district, asked him to step out and cautioned him against any involvement in poll-related violence. They also urged his family to ensure he stayed away from any disruption. They then addressed Shaikh's neighbours using a loudspeaker, asking them not to be intimidated by local "dadas". Around the same time, another team in Birbhum district visited the residence of Sandeep Ghosh, also flagged as a "troublemaker"....