Kolkata, 17 February (H.S.): The West Bengal government has finally complied with the directive of the Election Commission by lodging FIRs against four state officials accused of irregularities in the voters’ list revision process. The action was taken before the expiry of the Tuesday deadline set by the Commission.

Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty has informed the Commission in writing that the directive has been implemented. According to Commission sources, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the full bench are currently in Assam and will review the matter upon their return.

The four officials had come under scrutiny even before the commencement of the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls. Allegations were raised that they had illegally included names in the voters’ list. A data entry operator associated with the process was also named in the controversy. Following the allegations, the Commission directed that the officials be suspended and FIRs be registered against them.

The Commission had first written to the state government on August 5 last year, followed by a reminder on August 8. It was alleged that the officials had facilitated the inclusion of “fake” or “ghost” voters in the electoral rolls. On January 2, after the directives were not implemented, the Commission instructed the concerned District Magistrates of two districts to register FIRs. Despite this, action was delayed, prompting the Chief Electoral Officer’s office to issue two reminders.

Meanwhile, Nabanna sought legal advice from the Advocate General. In a communication to the CEO’s office, the state had argued that the alleged offences were not grave enough to warrant the filing of FIRs and that such stringent action would be disproportionate. However, after continued non-compliance, the Commission summoned the state’s present Chief Secretary to Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi last Friday. Subsequently, the state was given time until Tuesday to act, which it has now done.

The officials against whom FIRs have been registered are Tathagata Mondal, Debottam Dattachoudhury, Biplab Sarkar and Sudipta Das. Debottam and Tathagata were serving as Electoral Registration Officer and Assistant Electoral Registration Officer respectively in Baruipur Purba. Biplab and Sudipta held similar responsibilities in the Moyna Assembly constituency.

At present, Debottam is posted as Deputy Project Director of the South 24 Parganas District Rural Development Council, Tathagata is an Assistant Officer in the 100-day work scheme at Jaynagar 1 Block, Biplab serves as District Officer for Minority Affairs in Purba Medinipur, and Sudipta is functioning as Panchayat Accounts and Audit Officer in Tamluk Block. The Commission had also directed that an FIR be lodged against data entry operator Surajit Haldar in connection with the matter.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh