ECI suspends 7 West Bengal officials for misuse of powers and dereliction in SIR process

Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], February 16 (ANI): The Election Commission of India (ECI) has suspended seven officials in West Bengal, directing the Chief Secretary to initiate disciplinary proceedings against them for "serious misconduct, dereliction of duty, and misuse of statutory powers in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process.
The suspended officials include: i) Dr Sefaur Rahaman, Assistant Director of Agriculture Department and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) for 56-Samserganj Assembly Constituency; ii) Nitish Das, Revenue Officer, Farakka and AERO for 55-Farakka Assembly Constituency; iii) Dalia Ray Choudhury, Women Development Officer, Maynaguri Development Block and AERO for 16-Maynaguri Assembly Constituency; iv) Sk. Murshid Alam, ADA, Suti Block and AERO for 57-Suti Assembly Constituency; v & vi) Satyajit Das, Joint Block Development Officer (BDO) and Joydeep Kundu, FEO, both AEROs of 139-Canning Purbo Assembly Constituency; and vii) Debashis Biswas, Jt BDO and AERO 229-Debra Assembly Constituency.
Meanwhile, the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal announced a revised schedule for the ongoing SIR process in the state on Tuesday, following a Supreme Court order.
In its statement, the CEO said the hearing of notices will be completed by February 14. The review of the documents and disposal of the claim will be completed by February 21.
The statement also said that the rationalisation of polling stations will be completed by February 25. The health parameter checks are to be conducted by February 27. The final electoral roll will be published on February 28.
This revision was announced following the Supreme Court's judgment ordering a one-week extension to publish the final electoral roll under the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in West Bengal.
The Court also issued a show-cause notice to the Director General of Police (DGP) of West Bengal over allegations of violence and the burning of election records during the revision process.
The final electoral roll, which was earlier scheduled to be published on February 14, will now be released after the extended timeline.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said the extension was necessary as Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) required additional time to scrutinise documents and take appropriate decisions. (ANI)