EC directs West Bengal CEO to register FIR against 5 erring officials

New Delhi [India], January 3 (ANI): The Election Commission of India has directed the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal to register an FIR against five officials for grave lapses and wrongful addition of names in the electoral roll.
The West Bengal CEO has been directed to instruct the concerned District Electoral Officer to ensure the immediate registration of FIRs against the officials.
It may be recalled that in August, the Election Commission directed the suspension of two ERO and two AERO for committing grave lapses and failing to perform their duties, violating the policy of data security while sharing their login credentials of the ER database with unauthorised persons.
South 24 Parganas ERO Debottam Dutta Choudhary, AERO Tathagat Mondal and his data entry operator Surojit Haldar were suspended. Purba Medinipur ERO Biplab Sarkar and EERO Sudipta Das were also suspended. EC has also directed to register an FIR against these officials.
ECI letter said that it is observed that while the state government has effected the suspension of the above officials on August 20, 2025, the direction regarding the FIR remains non-compliant till date.
ECI directed the CEO WB to instruct the concerned DEOs to ensure immediate registration of FIRs against the officials under Section 32 of the Representation of the People's Act 1950, along with relevant provisions of BNS 2023 and Information Technology Act 2000 as applicable.
EC warns that failure to ensure the registration of FIR shall be treated with utmost seriousness. It has also been asked to submit a compliance report at the earliest. (ANI)