Mumbai: The Maharashtra government and police were contacted by the Election Commission on Friday to provide an explanation for their noncompliance with its order to transfer officers prior to the State's Assembly elections. The EC had ordered the police and government on July 31 to move all officials stationed in their home districts and those who had been there for three years or more, in anticipation of the elections that are scheduled for November.
Action-taken reports were sought from the director general of police and the chief secretary by August 20. The EC stated in a letter to the chief secretary on Friday that it has not yet received complete reports, despite reminders on August 22, September 11, and September 25.
The EC wrote that while a partial report from the additional DGP was sent, “no report has been received in the commission from the chief secretary till date”.
Asking for reports to be sent immediately, the EC asked the chief secretary and DGP to “explain the circumstances as to why compliance reports have not been furnished even after lapse of the stipulated time limit despite reminders in the matter.”
The matter reportedly arose on Friday during the EC's ongoing inspection of polling arrangements in Mumbai. The commission began a two-day assessment on Friday. It is made up of Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar, Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu.
It has been reported that the CEC voiced his displeasure with the delay in following the EC's orders. According to sources, transfers of about 100 Mumbai Police inspectors and a number of state-wide revenue department workers are still pending. The terms of the Maharashtra Assembly and Jharkhand Assembly expire on November 26 and January 5, 2025, respectively, and elections are due for both. The EC visited Jharkhand earlier this week to assess the state's election preparations.
The Election Commission (EC) had decided against holding the Maharashtra Assembly polls at the same time as the elections in Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana, which were announced on August 16.
The Maharashtra and Haryana elections had been scheduled together for at least the last three election cycles. The CEC responded that the J&K elections had to be held within the deadline of September 30 as mandated by the Supreme Court and that this was not a factor in prior election cycles when asked why the EC had opted to de-link the Haryana and Maharashtra elections. He claimed that because J&K required additional forces, the EC could not conduct more than two polls simultaneously.