Suspension of 4 election officers in Bengal a warning to others by ECI

Kolkata: The direction from the Election Commission of India (ECI) to West Bengal Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, on Tuesday ordering suspension of four election officers, should be considered as the commission’s first note of caution for all involved in the electoral process in the state.

The ECI action against the four election officers posted with two Assembly constituencies in two districts of West Bengal, was in connection with their alleged involvement in wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of these two seats.

Given the latest action, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, has started conveying to all involved in the system to be mindful that the commission does not get a chance to detect similar instances of irregularities and order similar punitive actions in the future.

“The message from the commission is loud and clear, that all involved in the process are under watch, and no irregularity in the system would be able to escape the vigilance of the commission. So, on our part, we are also asking all electoral officers in the state to be extremely mindful in carrying out their duties with due diligence and strictly go by the book,” an insider from the CEO’s office said.

He explained that in the order from the ECI to the state government for the suspension of the four electoral officers and registration of FIRs against them, the commission had also clearly sent a note of caution for all in the system about the punitive provisions for similar offenders.

If proven guilty, the erring individuals will be imprisoned for a term of at least three months, but it might extend to two years, accompanied by a fine, as mentioned in Monday’s communique from the ECI to the Chief Secretary.

Besides suspending and registering FIRs against these four election officers, the commission had also directed the Chief Secretary to register an FIR against one data entry operator involved in the system.

The main charges against these four errant election officers, two Electoral Returning Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Returning Officers (AEROs), were that they not only failed in performing duties as EROs and AEROs 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.

The office of the West Bengal Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Manoj Kumar Agarwal, first conducted a thorough probe against these two EROs, two AEROs, and one data entry operator, following complaints received against them regarding their involvement in the wrongful addition of names in the electoral rolls of these two constituencies.

Thereafter, the office of the CEO also forwarded a report on their findings to the commission.

–IANS