Didnt exceed brief,consulted govt,says state Chief Electoral Officer

A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said no one should overstep their constitutional mandate,Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kushamjit Sidhu on Monday said she had not exceeded her brief and transferred officers in consultation with the state government.

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A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said no one should overstep their constitutional mandate,Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kushamjit Sidhu on Monday said she had not exceeded her brief and transferred officers in consultation with the state government.

I did not cross my brief in any way. I have been appointed by the state government and working for the Election Commission of India. As Returning Officers (ROs) and Assistant Returning Officers (AROs) have to be appointed for the Assembly elections,we have been writing to the state government since July last year to appoint officers as per the transfer policy norms of ECI, Sidhu said. But as the government did not appoint officers as per norms,then in the last three days we held meetings with their cadre-appointing authorities,and effected transfers.

She said thus some 56 ROs and AROs were transferred by the cadre-controlling authorities. The transfers were carried out in consonance with ECI guidelines,ie,a officer cannot be in home district,more than three years of stay and so on,she added.

As for police postings,Sidhu said we appointed about 20 Inspector-level officers as Station House Officers (SHO) and not Sub-inspector,also some three DSPs were changed. We have to provide a level playing field for all the political parties in the elections, she added.

On Sunday,Badal had appealed to the ECI to ask its officials in Punjab to act within the parameters of their constitutional brief,treating the observance of the model code of election conduct as their primary task. No one should overstep their constitutional mandate.

There is a difference between enforcing the model code of conduct for a free and fair poll on the one hand,and bringing the whole state to the brink of an administrative paralysis and developmental standstill,on the other, he had said.

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Didnt exceed brief,consulted govt,says state Chief Electoral Officer

A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said no one should overstep their constitutional mandate,Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kushamjit Sidhu on Monday said she had not exceeded her brief and transferred officers in consultation with the state government.

Didnt exceed brief,consulted govt,says state Chief Electoral Officer

A day after Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said no one should overstep their constitutional mandate,Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Kushamjit Sidhu on Monday said she had not exceeded her brief and transferred officers in consultation with the state government.