State Removes 'Tainted' Officers from Active Poll Duty, But Does Not Suspend Them as Asked by ECI

PTI, KOLKATA, AUG 11, 2025 : The West Bengal government on Monday informed the Election Commission of India (ECI) that it has removed four officers from active election duty, but did not suspend them as instructed by the poll panel.

In a letter to the ECI, Chief Secretary Manoj Pant explained that any disciplinary action against state government officers who have "consistently demonstrated sincerity and competence" would be "disproportionately harsh." The state government opted to remove the officers from electoral revision and poll-related duties instead of suspending them, as directed by the ECI earlier.

Pant also mentioned that the state has initiated an "internal inquiry into the issue" and is undertaking a "thorough review of the existing processes and procedures" governing the conduct of electoral exercises. The response from the top bureaucrat came within two hours of the 3 pm deadline set by the ECI to execute its order of suspending the four officers and lodging police cases against them.

On August 5, the ECI had announced its decision to suspend four officials — two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) — as well as a casual data entry operator in West Bengal. These officers were accused of committing irregularities while preparing electoral rolls in the Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts, respectively.

Two of the five penalized state government employees, Debottam Dutta Choudhury and Biplab Sarkar, are officers of the WBCS (Executive) rank.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, questioning the Commission's jurisdiction and the legality of the move, alleged that the BJP was using the ECI to "intimidate state government officers." She had previously declared that she would not suspend the officers in question.