Kolkata, Feb 13 The Election Commission of India (ECI) said on Friday that the documents related to the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in West Bengal will be preserved for the next five years.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar, gave this direction at a virtual meeting, which was attended among others, by the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, his subordinate officers in the CEO office, all the district magistrates, the district electoral officers (DEOs), electoral registration officers (EROs) and the assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs).
A CEO's office insider present at the virtual meeting said that the CEC cautioned that if the presence of any foreign national is detected on the final voters' list even after five years from the completion of the voter revision exercise, the concerned electoral officer or officers, including the DEOs, will be liable to be punished by the Commission even then.
"The CEC also cautioned that in case any Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer is found liable, in that case, there will be a long-term impact on his or her annual confidential report, which might impact his or her career growth," the CEO's office insider added.
At the meeting, the CEC, especially directed the DEOs to ensure that only 13 documents listed by the Commission are accepted as the valid identity proof documents furnished at the hearing sessions on claims and objections regarding the draft voters' list in West Bengal.
"The CEC specially asked the DEOs to be vigilant about this matter during the phase of scrutiny of the documents furnished at the hearing sessions. At the virtual meeting, the CEC's office also flagged several instances of unlisted and ineligible documents being uploaded in the system by the EROs and AEROs concerned," the CEO's office insider said.
CEC Kumar also cautioned that strong disciplinary action will be initiated against the electoral officers concerned if future violations in the matter come to the notice of the Commission.
The CEO was advised by the CEC to personally look into such matters.
The extended deadline for the hearing sessions on claims and objections regarding the draft voters' list is set to expire on Saturday.
The phase of the scrutiny of the documents furnished at the hearing session will continue till February 21.
The final voters' list will be published on February 28.
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