Don’t instruct poll officials: EC tells U.P. officials

The Election Commission has strictly instructed the Uttar Pradesh Chief Secretary to inform his officials not to give any instruction relating to the election management to the poll officials in the State orally or through telephone or by any other mode “which are outside their jurisdiction”.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary, the Commission, which stressed on the strict compliance of the order, said the district officers and those doing poll work should only comply with those written orders which were in consonance with the instructions of EC.

It had come to the EC’s notice that some senior officers in the State Secretariat, other than those in the Election Department, were issuing oral/telephonic instructions to the election related officers posted in the State/district which might be at variance with the instructions of the Commission.

“You will appreciate that issuing any instructions to any officer designated for conduct of the election/assigned election related duties, including District Election Officers, is not only unwarranted but also may jeopardize the election process and in many cases create confusion in field machinery for elections”, the letter to the Chief Secretary said.