Bengal government requests ECI to withdraw order barring transfer of bureaucrats deputed for SIR
The West Bengal government on Thursday requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to withdraw its order, issued earlier this week, stopping the transfers of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, who are currently on temporary deputation to the poll panel for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.
IANS
Jan 29, 2026 10:16
0
Kolkata, Jan 29 (IANS) The West Bengal government on Thursday requested the Election Commission of India (ECI) to withdraw its order, issued earlier this week, stopping the transfers of three Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, who are currently on temporary deputation to the poll panel for the ongoing special intensive revision (SIR) in the state.
The Commission’s Secretary, Sujeet Kumar Mishra, on Tuesday, wrote to Chief Secretary Nandini Chakraborty, ordering a stop to the departmental transfer of the three IAS officers, namely Asvini Kumar Yadav, Randhir Kumar, and Smita Pandey.
In the letter, Mishra also asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that no official involved in the SIR process is transferred without prior approval from the Commission.
Insiders from the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said that the state government, in its reply on Thursday, sought to explain why the departmental transfers were made in case of these bureaucrats.
"As per the explanations of the state government, since the three IAS officers are involved in the revision exercise, the state government decided to give them lighter departmental assignments to relieve them of excessive work pressure and hence departmental transfers were ordered for them," a CEO’s office source said.
Now, it is to be seen whether the Commission accepts the request of the state government in the matter or sticks to its earlier decision.
Since the beginning of the SIR exercise, there had been several rounds of tiffs between the Commission and the West Bengal government on various issues. The most serious among them were regarding the Commission’s decision on the suspension of two electoral registration officers (EROs) and two assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs), besides registering FIRs against them.
Now, stalling the departmental transfer of these three bureaucrats is the latest feud in the matter.
--IANS
src/vd
