ECI suspends four West Bengal electoral officers for voter list tamperings, orders probe
The poll panel also asked the West Bengal Chief Secretary to lodge FIRs against the four officers under provisions of the election laws.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has initiated action against four West Bengal election officials following a Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) report exposing unauthorized inclusions in electoral rolls of Baruipur Purba and Moyna constituencies. In its letter to the Chief Secretary - a copy obtained by this newspaper - the ECI cited the CEO's findings of irregularities committed by Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and Assistant EROs.
The officers - Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO), Tathagata Mondal (AERO), Biplab Sarkar (ERO), and Sudipta Das (AERO) were responsible for preparing, revising, and correcting electoral rolls. The ECI directed that "suitable disciplinary proceedings" be initiated against them and FIRs lodged for actions amounting to "criminal misconduct." An FIR was also recommended against casual data entry operator Surojit Halder.
The discrepancies surfaced during a sample check of voter application forms (Form 6) by the West Bengal Election Commission. The ECI noted that the officers violated due procedure, warranting penalties under Section 32(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. Following the CEO's orders, the District Election Officer (DEO) must form a senior officials' team to scrutinice all voter forms processed in the past year and submit a report by August 14, 2025.
The ECI instructed the Chief Secretary to ensure strict compliance and submit an action-taken report "at the earliest." The move comes amid Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's opposition to the ECI's push for a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the state's electoral rolls.
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