Bengal SIR: Fresh round of ECI-Mamata govt tussle looming over ‘suspension’ of electoral officers
Kolkata: A fresh round of dispute between the Election Commission of India and the West Bengal government seems to be in the offing over the real definition of suspension of the electoral officers found guilty of violating the ECI-set guidelines for the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in the state.
On one hand, the West Bengal government is standing by the Chief Minister’s position that the suspension is limited to removing the suspended electoral officers from their duties and, hence, they can be used in other state administrative roles.
However, insiders from the Chief Electoral Officers (CEO), West Bengal, stated that the ECI had clearly explained that suspension is not just the withdrawal of suspended officers from electoral duty, but also the withdrawal from any administrative assignment.
“Besides suspending a section of the electoral officers, the ECI has also directed the state government to initiate departmental proceedings against such officers. There lies the question of how fair and unbiased departmental proceedings could be possible by retaining them in their respective administrative positions,” explained a CEO’s office insider.
He also said that the ECI is keeping a close watch on whether the state government will initiate a departmental probe against these suspended electoral officers.
“The state government is supposed to send a compliance report to the Commission about the initiation of a departmental probe against these suspended electoral officers. If the compliance report is not received after the lapse of a reasonable period, the Commission would surely decide on the next course of action in the matter,” the CEO’s office insider said.
Political observers feel that even if the state government sticks to its stand that suspension means just withdrawal from electoral duty, there is no guarantee that the suspended electoral officers will finally be able to escape a bigger action on the part of the ECI.
Once the model code of conduct is in force because of the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state scheduled this year, no one would be able to resist the ECI from taking penal action against these suspended officers under the provisions of the Representation of the People Act.
So far, the ECI has suspended two electoral registration officers (EROs), nine assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs), one data-entry operator, and three micro-observers. While the three micro-observers are Central government officials, the rest are state government staff.