Citing their critical role in the impending monsoon, the state government has once again asked the Election Commission of India (ECI) to exempt the transfers of Commissioner I. S. Chahal of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and other officers.
In February, the poll panel requested that if a commissioner or top officer had served three years in a single position or district, the state move them all to the district councils. The state responded by pleading with the ECI to exempt the municipal commissioners from the regulation, citing potential implications for the civic body’s monsoon preparations. The ECI, however, turned down the plea.
Then, the state moved municipal commissioners Vikram Kumar of Pune and Kavita Dwivedi of Akola. According to officials, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is reportedly against Chahal’s move.
The poll panel earlier this week again wrote to the government, requesting compliance with the norms and taking serious note of the delay in transferring Mumbai commissioner and administrator Chahal, additional commissioners P Velrasu and Ashwini Bhide, and a few additional commissioners from across the state. A few days later, the state requested in writing that these policemen be spared from prosecution in a letter to the ECI.
The ECI will now make the decision, according to Maharashtra’s chief election officer, S. Chockalingam.
In a parallel move, the state government moved Anoop Kumar, the additional chief secretary for agriculture, to the position of additional chief secretary overseeing the cooperation department on Saturday. The IAS official oversaw the cooperation department earlier and is scheduled to retire in August of this year. Astik Kumar Pandey, the municipal commissioner of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, has been appointed commissioner of the Employment State Insurance Scheme in Mumbai.
Among the IPS officers, Mahesh Patil, the Thane additional commissioner of police (west), was moved to the eastern area, and Vinayak Deshmukh, the additional commissioner of the eastern region, was moved to Thane police.
