New Delhi: Days after the announcement of elections to five assemblies in the country Sunday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has transferred 44 IPS, IAS and other civil servants in four states, including the Chief Secretary, Home Secretary and DGP in West Bengal, triggering a political storm.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has alleged that while the ECI has the authority to transfer officers during election period, convention says the state government is consulted in the process.
In a letter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar Monday, Banerjee wrote that in practice, the commission would request the state to furnish a panel of three officers, from among whom it would select an officer to fill the vacancy arising from any contemplated transfer.
Former Election Commissioners endorse Banerjee’s stand.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S. Y. Quraishi told ThePrint that the ECI has been transferring officers regularly in election period, “but conventionally, we ask for a panel”. He said that usually the state government suggests three names, of which the ECI selects one.
“That has been the norm. It is very, very rare to transfer without consulting (the state government),” he said.
By way of an example, Dr Quraishi recalled the time when the ECI received a complaint in the middle of the night against the police commissioner for Madurai, that money was being distributed and he was not taking any action against it.
“So, we ordered his transfer at midnight, to be implemented within half an hour, so obviously we had no time to ask for a panel… conventionally, we always ask for a panel because after all, they are all state government officers. From the panel, surely you will find one who is suitable, or you can return the panel and ask for a second panel,” he said.
Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa too said the ECI asks for a panel and if it considers the panel satisfactory, it appoints one of the persons of its own choice from the panel.
Explaining the procedure undertaken before and after announcement of polls, Lavasa said: “The practice of the EC is that before the elections are announced, there is a procedure by which those who have been, for three years, in a particular position which is directly connected with the conduct of elections, are all shifted.”
“People who are in their home districts are also shifted if they are connected with election work. These guidelines exist and, according to that, the Election Commission takes a certificate from the Chief Secretary before the elections are announced, that in accordance with the guidelines of the Election Commission, all officers are to be shifted if required.”
After that, when the elections are announced, and it comes to the notice of the commission that there is non-compliance with its guidelines or there are complaints against an officer, the ECI is within its rights to remove that officer as far as election work is concerned, Lavasa told ThePrint.
He said that once the ECI receives any information of a violation, it asks the Chief Electoral Officer of the state to get a panel from the state government and forward it to the commission. However, he added, the ECI is not obliged to disclose the nature of the information that it received or the reasons why it is transferring somebody.
Dr Quraishi added that transfers can also happen pre-emptively, without direct violations.
“Once we transferred a state’s chief secretary, home secretary and DGP after we were shown evidence by the Opposition that they made irresponsible remarks during the meeting of a political party, to ensure neutrality (among officers),” he recalled, but said that even at that time, the ECI had sought a panel from the state government.
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‘Unilateral transfer’
Hours after the announcement of dates for assembly elections, the ECI replaced the Chief Secretary and Home Secretary of West Bengal. It replaced Chief Secretary Nandini Chakravorty with Dushyant Nariala, and Home Secretary Jagdish Prasad Meena with Sanghamitra Ghosh.
On Monday, the ECI made four more transfers. It replaced Director-General of Police Peeyush Pandey with 1992-batch IPS officer Siddh Nath Gupta, and police commissioner of Kolkata Supratim Sarkar with Ajay Kumar Nand. It also directed the appointment of Natarajan Ramesh Babu, a 1991-batch IPS officer as DG, correctional services, and 1995-batch IPS officer Ajay Mukund Ranade as ADG & IGP (Law & Order).
On Tuesday, the ECI transferred 19 IPS officers, including at least four commissioners, two inspectors general, 12 superintendents, and a deputy commissioner (Kolkata).
Similarly, in Tamil Nadu, it ordered the transfer of police superintendents in four districts Monday. The same day, it ordered the transfer and fresh postings of five IAS and five IPS officers in Assam. The ECI also ordered the transfer and posting of five IAS, IPS and KAS officers in Kerala Tuesday.
All the transfer and appointment letters state that the officers transferred out “shall not be posted in any elected-related posts till the completion of elections”. ThePrint has seen the orders.
Accompanying the transfer orders is a message by Chief Election Commissioner Kumar: “Election Commission is committed to holding transparent, free of fear, violence-free and inducement-free elections.”
Banerjee had objected to the transfers, writing to Kumar about the “transfer and unilateral placement of several senior officers of the state administration” Monday.
“Such sweeping transfers have been affected without any cogent reasons and without any allegation of violation, misconduct or lapse in relation to the conduct of elections,” it says.
While the letter acknowledges that during the election period, the ECI is vested with the authority to transfer or post civil and police officers engaged in election-related duties, it claims that in previous elections, the commission has “consistently consulted the state government as a matter of constitutional propriety and administrative convention within our federal framework” while exercising these powers.
‘In the dead of the night’
Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha Monday, Derek O’Brien, MP from West Bengal’s ruling TMC, informed that his party was walking out for the day to protest against the ECI’s move to replace the state Chief Secretary and Home Secretary. He alleged that the two officers were removed in the “dead of the night”.
In response, parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju said O’Brien had raised concerns over the actions of a constitutional authority “which this House or the Government has nothing to do with”.
Rijiju accused the TMC and the Congress of attacking constitutional institutions.
In Kerala, the ECI has ordered the posting of Narayanan (IPS-2011) as District Police Chief, Kozhikode, and Thomson Jose (IPS-2009) as Deputy Inspector General of Police, Thrissur Range.
It also directed the appointment of Inbasekhar (IAS-2015) as District Collector-cum-District Election Officer, Alappuzha, S. Vandana (KAS) as Revenue Divisional Officer, Thaliparamba-cum-Returning Officer for Irikkur in Kannur district, and Sachin Krishna (KAS) as District Registrar General, Kannur-cum-Returning Officer for Dharmadam in Kannur district.
In Tamil Nadu, the ECI has ordered the appointment of D.N. Harikiran Prasad (IPS-2016), D.V. Kiran Shruthi (IPS 2018), Sujith Kumar (IPS 2013), and Dr N. Shreenatha (IPS 2013) as SPs of Karur, Erode, Nagapattinam and Virudhunagar, respectively.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)