Punjab: Poll official suspended for 'dereliction' of duty

Fatehgarh Sahib (Pb), Dec 30: The Punjab State Election Commission suspended a presiding officer for alleged dereliction of election duty on Sunday, officials said.

Sukhwinder Singh, Superintendent of ITI, Bassi Pathana of Fatehgarh Sahib district, who was appointed as presiding officer for gram panchayat elections here, faced the action as he did not report for his duty and also allegedly instigated other polling staff to do the same, they said.

Singh was suspended after Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer reported the matter to the Election Commission. Fatehgarh Sahib Additional Electoral Officer-cum Additional DC, Jagwinderjit Singh Sandhu said that the SEC ordered immediate suspension of Singh after considering the facts.

As per the State Election Commission's Secretary order, the officer may not be re-instated in service before getting the recommendations of the Commission. The letter was sent to Secretary, Department of Technical Education and Industrial Department. Polling to elect sarpanches and panches for 13,276 villages in Punjab was held Sunday.

PTI