CHENNAI: Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Naresh Gupta on Tuesday denied that the Election Commission (EC) was under "political pressure" to initiate action against those who allegedly submitted bulk applications carrying bogus names for inclusion in the electoral rolls.

He indicated that the process of filing complaints with the Magistrates concerned, in such cases had started.

In the presence of Deputy Election Commissioner Anand Kumar, who held discussions with the CEO and other officials in the State Election Department, Mr. Gupta told reporters that the EC acted in accordance with the law.

In response to a query, he said in the wake of the High Court order, complaints would be filed by the Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) in Magistrate Courts having jurisdiction over the areas concerned, in three categories of cases: where it was found that the claimants were not ordinarily residing at the address given in the Form 6; they were below 18 years; signature on the application was not that of the applicant.

The Magistrates could either proceed directly with the case if they were satisfied with the complaint or refer it to the police. District Election Officers had also been instructed to send action taken report.

Asked if the process of filing first information reports had commenced, Mr. Gupta said instructions were issued on Wednesday and it might have started.

According to reports from the districts, the Electoral Officers have been asked to file their complaints by Friday, though some districts may need more time. An EC team had made a sample study of the complaints from some districts. A more detailed analysis would now be undertaken following the High Court ruling.

Mr. Gupta said the issue relating to persons against whom non-bailable arrest warrants were pending for more than six months also figured in the discussions with the Deputy Commissioner. "The verification process is still on."

Mr. Kumar had expressed concern over the failure of some DEOs in filing weekly progress report on rolls revision, he said.

To another query, Mr. Gupta said publication of final rolls would be rescheduled in the worst flood affected districts such as Cuddalore and Nagapattinam and partly affected Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, with the EC's approval.

The electronic photo identity card programme would be taken up after completing the rolls revision process.

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