ECI sets Aug 21 deadline for Bengal govt to take action against four errant election officers

Kolkata, Aug 13 The Election Commission of India (ECI) had given August 21, the final deadline to the West Bengal government, for completing the process of suspension of four election officials posted with two Assembly constituencies in two districts of the state for their involvement in the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of these two seats.

The commission has also directed the state government to complete the process of registering FIRs against the four election officials by the same date.

The message was conveyed loud and clear by the ECI officials at a meeting with West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant at the ECI's headquarters in New Delhi earlier, said a top source.

After the state government, earlier this week, intimated the ECI that it would not currently comply with the order from the commission to suspend four election officials, the commission on Tuesday summoned Pant to its headquarters in New Delhi by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

At that meeting, the commission's officials made it clear that the decision on the suspension of four election officials was final and there was no looking back on it.

Thereafter, the commission set August 21 as a fresh and final deadline for completing the process of suspension of these four election officials.

Now, it is to be seen how the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would react on Thursday after getting the report from Chief Secretary Pant in the matter.

The complications on the issue of disciplinary action against the four errant election officers started from the beginning, with Chief Minister Banerjee challenging the commission's order and saying that the state government would not take any action against the four officers since all of them were state government employees.

The main charges against these four election officers are that the said officers had not only failed in performing duties as Electoral Registration Officers and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers while disposing of the applications but also violated the policy of data security while sharing their login credentials of the election registration database with unauthorised persons.

If proven guilty, the punishment of the erring individuals will be imprisonment for a term of at least three months, but it might extend to two years, and with a fine, as per legal provisions.

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