Bengal elections 2021: Howrah rural SP removed after wife declared TMC candidate

KOLKATA: The Election Commission on Wednesday transferred Superintendent of Police (SP) of Howrah (Rural) Saumya Roy on the ground that his wife was a declared Trinamool Congress candidate from Sonarpur Dakshin assembly constituency in West Bengal.
He has been replaced with Shrihari Pandey, an IPS officer from 2011 batch.
In a letter to West Bengal chief secretary, the Commission said Roy’s transfer was based on the general principle that “close relatives of active public representatives may not be assigned such duties during elections, which may create any perception of biases/partiality”.
EC ordered that Roy, an IPS officer, be shifted to a non-election post and that it be ensured that the officer does not leave his headquarters till completion of election for any political activity, as per the poll panel’s existing instruction.
EC also requested the chief secretary to confirm that all senior officials connected with conduct of elections have given the certificate that they are not a close relative of any of the contesting candidates in West Bengal. “If there is any such case, it may be reported to the Commission immediately,” it stated.
As per EC instructions dated January 23, 1998, in all cases where officers belonging to the IAS, IPS and other state government senior officials whose spouses were active in the political arena either as candidates in elections or as active members of political parties, “the concerned officers should not leave their headquarters either on leave or on tour till elections are complete in all respects”.
If they, for some reason, must leave the headquarters, specific written permission of the chief secretary must be obtained beforehand. Also the chief secretary, while giving such permission, should ensure that such officers do not get involved in any way with the political activities of their spouses, directed EC.