State chief secy gets till Aug 21 to act on EC’s suspension order
Times of India | 14 August 2025
Kolkata: The Election Commission on Wednesday gave Bengal chief secretary Manoj Pant time till Aug 21 to comply with its directive to suspend four state officers and lodge FIRs against them and a data entry officer. Pant told EC seniors the state had formed a three-member panel to probe the complaints.
Pant rushed to Delhi and met EC officials much before the 5 pm deadline he was set on Tuesday. He informed the officials that the state had ordered a fresh probe because it felt the EC's directives were harsh, sources said. However, he was told that the state could probe the matter but he needed to comply with the order and send a compliance report at the earliest and any further delay would be considered as insubordination, the sources said.
During the hour-long discussion, Pant also tried to convince the officials that the state would act on the EC's order and had no intention of defying it.
| Gold Rates Today in Kolkata | Silver Rates Today in KolkataThe four officers and the data entry officer – working in Baruipur East and Moyna assembly segments — are facing allegations of lapses in voter inclusions in local electoral rolls. Two of the officers are of Bengal civil services cadre. The EC had earlier given the chief secretary till Monday 3 pm to comply with its directive, but the state had only removed the AERO of Moyna and the data entry operator from poll-related duty. A miffed EC had summoned the chief secretary to New Delhi to give an explanation in person.
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