Following ECI Directive: Bengal Suspends 4 Officials Over ‘Fake’ Voter List, Resists FIRs

MP | 22 Aug 2025 | Kolkata: The Bengal government on Thursday suspended four state officials, including two WBCS officers, following Election Commission of India (ECI) directives on charges of illegally removing names from the voter list. However, the state has not accepted the ECI’s instruction to lodge FIRs against the officials, opting instead to initiate departmental proceedings (DP).

A Nabanna source said Chief Secretary Manoj Pant submitted a compliance report to the ECI on Thursday evening, stating the suspensions. A detailed communication explaining why FIRs were not filed immediately will be sent to the Commission.

The ECI, during a meeting with Pant on August 13 in Delhi, had pressed for action against four poll officials and a data entry operator accused of preparing fake voter lists. Sources said Pant conveyed that the state would not directly intervene and a final decision would follow further discussions. The poll panel had proposed suspending the officials by August 20–21, with the option of reinstating them if found innocent.

Pant reportedly objected, arguing that the officers belong to different departments and unilateral suspension without departmental consultation would be unfair. Pant had earlier been summoned to explain why the accused officials were not removed and FIRs had not been filed despite ECI orders.

On August 11, he informed the Commission that Assistant Electoral Registration Officer (AERO) Sudipta Das of 26-Moyna Assembly Constituency and data entry operator Surojit Halder of 137-Baruipur Purba AC had already been withdrawn from election duties. He added that internal enquiries had begun against all four state officials. His letter cautioned that initiating FIRs against officers with a record of competence before completing an enquiry could be “disproportionately harsh” and risk demoralising others engaged in election duties.

The ECI had earlier set an August 11 deadline for suspension and FIRs against four officials—Debottam Dutta Choudhury (ERO, 137-Baruipur Purba AC), Tathagata Mondal (AERO, 137-Baruipur Purba AC), Biplab Sarkar (ERO, 206-Moyna AC), and Sudipta Das—and data entry operator Halder.