Kolkata, 21 January (H.S.) : Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar has directed the Acting Director General of West Bengal Police, Rajeev Kumar, to strictly comply with the Supreme Court’s recent order and ensure a completely peaceful law and order situation in the state during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

A formal communiqué in this regard was issued by Election Commission of India (ECI) Secretary Pawan Diwan, instructing the state police leadership to take all necessary steps to prevent any disruption during the SIR process.

Copies of the communiqué were also sent to West Bengal Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty and Kolkata Police Commissioner Manoj Verma. The Commission directed all district collectors, police commissioners and district superintendents of police to strictly adhere to the Supreme Court’s directions and maintain law and order throughout the SIR exercise.

The ECI cautioned the state administration that strict action would be taken in case of any non-compliance with the apex court’s order or if any disturbance occurs during the revision process.

“Strict action shall be taken in case of any non-compliance with the above directions or occurrence of any disturbance to SIR proceedings due to omission or commission of any act by the concerned authorities. You are directed to ensure strict compliance with the aforesaid directions,” the communiqué stated.

The Commission also instructed the state government to provide adequate manpower to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), West Bengal, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, for deployment at panchayat offices, block offices and other locations where hearings on claims and objections to the draft voters’ list are being conducted.

“Each district collector and superintendent of police should deploy sufficient staff and forces to ensure the smooth conduct of SIR proceedings at such locations. The Director General of Police, Commissioner of Police (Kolkata), district superintendents of police and district collectors are instructed to ensure that there are no law and order issues and that SIR-related activities proceed smoothly,” the communiqué added.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh