Reject SEC proceedings against 2 IAS officers, CS tells DoPT

Chief Secretary Aditya Nath Das has written a letter to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) requesting it to refuse to take cognizance of the proceedings issued by the State Election Commission (SEC) against the 2 IAS officers who had been censured by the Commission. The Chief Secretary additionally needed the DoPT to advise the SEC to not train energy which isn’t in his area and cling to the rules within the matter.

Mr. Das, within the letter, mentioned that the SEC had administered the censure against Panchayat Raj & Rural Development Principal Secretary Gopal Krishna Dwivedi and Commissioner of Panchayat Raj M. Girija Shankar with out following the due process prescribed beneath AIS (D&A) Rules, 1969. The allegation was not updating the Gram Panchayat electoral rolls as on January 1, 2021. The SEC had written a really derogatory letter against the officers to the Secretary, DoPT, for his or her obligatory retirement. “This step of SEC also doesn’t fall under his competence and suffers from jurisdictional error,” he mentioned.

The Chief Secretary, referring to the rules and instances filed within the Supreme Court, mentioned that the Election Commission was empowered to droop any officer / police personnel working beneath the Central authorities or public sector enterprise or an autonomous physique absolutely or partially funded by the federal government, for insubordination or dereliction of responsibility apart from making suggestions to the competent authority for taking disciplinary motion, whereas engaged within the preparation of electoral rolls or election responsibility. (*2*) he mentioned.

Mr. Das asserted that censure was a penalty categorized beneath minor penalties and the State authorities was the competent authority. “The proceedings issued by the SEC administering censure against the two IAS officers and to direct that the same will form part of their service record is without competency and jurisdiction and nothing but transgressing into the powers vested with the State government. Accordingly, the government has rejected the censure proceedings of the SEC,” he added.