MP rolls: EC for vacation of stay

The Election Commission today filed a counter affidavit with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for a vacation of stay which had barr...

The Election Commission today filed a counter affidavit with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for a vacation of stay which had barred the implementation of its recommendation to suspend five officers charged with dereliction of duty in the preparation of electoral rolls in Madhya Pradesh.

The EC’s legal advisor S.K. Mendiratta and a senior official filed the counter affidavit today in Jabalpur. CAT gave the order on a petition filed by a former Rewa collector who claimed the EC order was ‘‘illegal and without any merit’’. CAT had also issued notices to EC, the Madhya Pradesh government and the State Election Office and asked them to file their replies by March 31, the next date of hearing.

Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijay Singh, who had met the Election Commissioners recently, had said his government could not suspend the IAS officers till a chargesheet was filed. The EC had directed suspension and inquiry against six senior administrative-cum-poll officials and ordered that disciplinary action be taken against 10 others for ‘‘dereliction’’ of duty in revision of electoral rolls.

The Commission took the step after the state government’s plea that errors in the electoral list was a result of computer glitches. ‘‘The suspensions ordered in respect of certain officers has been insisted upon by the Commission because of the magnitude of errors detected in the areas where these officers were functioning,’’ a note from the EC had stated.

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