The Election Commission of India has summoned West Bengal Chief Secretary Manoj Pant to the Commission’s headquarter in Delhi by 5 p.m. on August 13.
The summon came a day after the Chief Secretary in his letter to the Commission stated that the Government has removed two of five personnel off active duty but not suspended or registered FIR against the officials as directed by the ECI.
Sources at the State Secretariat said that the Chief Secretary will be travelling to Delhi on Wednesday (August 13, 2025) morning. The summon to the top bureaucrat of the West Bengal government to Nirvachan Sadan, the headquarters of ECI, indicates a deadlock as far as the action against five personnel including four officers of West Bengal Government is concerned.
On August 5, the ECI directed the West Bengal Government to suspend four officials — two Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) and two Assistant Electoral Registration Officers (AEROs) — and a casual data entry operator for allegedly committing irregularities while preparing electoral rolls in Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies in South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts respectively. The five officials were charged with fraudulent registration of 127 voters using forged documents in the Baruipur Purba and Moyna Assembly constituencies. The Commission has put a deadline for the Chief Secretary to respond by 3 p.m. August 11.
