LUCKNOW: Escalating action over alleged electoral roll irregularities in Pilibhit, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed the immediate suspension of two electoral registration officers (EROs) and sought further action against officials involved in the case.In a letter written on Saturday (sent via e-mail late night), the Commission directed that Mayank Goswami and Hemant Chaudhary, both EROs of Pilibhit assembly constituency (AC-127), be placed under suspension with immediate effect. Their chargesheets must be forwarded to the Commission for vetting.Notably, Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer (CEO) Navdeep Rinwa had already ordered action against the two EROs on Oct 22 following the detection of irregularities in electoral roll records.The Commission made it clear that the officers must not be reinstated without its prior approval.It further directed that Section 198 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, may be added to the FIR already registered against the two EROs and VRC computer operator Anil Kumar. Their cases should be vigorously pursued in court.The ECI also sought an action-taken report against the VRC operator, along with details concerning the role of five assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs), within three days.Additionally, the Commission directed the Pilibhit district election officer (DEO) to submit a report on scrutiny of electoral rolls across all four assembly constituencies of the district within a week, along with the CEO’s specific comments.Significantly, the ECI directed all DEOs and EROs across Uttar Pradesh to thoroughly re-examine electoral rolls, particularly additions, deletions and modifications made through Forms 6, 7 and 8.The directions follow an inquiry that uncovered 13,779 erroneous Form-8 entries in Pilibhit between May 31 and August 29, of which 10,470 were approved, raising concerns over electoral roll verification and supervision.
