In the run-up to the Assembly polls in five states due early next year, the Election Commission (EC) has directed the governments of Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh to transfer officials posted in their home districts and those who have spent three years in a district in the last four years.
In a letter to the chief secretaries and chief electoral officers of the poll-bound states on Wednesday, the commission pointed out that the terms of the legislative assemblies of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa are ending on different dates in March, 2022. The term of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly ends on May 14 next year.
It is usual for the poll panel to issue such directions ahead of Lok Sabha or Assembly elections to ensure that officials do not interfere in the poll process in any way and the democratic exercise remains free and fair.
"The Commission further desires that no officer/official, against whom a criminal case is pending in any court of law, be associated with/deployed on election-related duty," the letter said.
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