EC orders removal of IRS officer from poll-bound Tamil Nadu

Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 6.

The Election Commission on Tuesday ordered the removal of an Indian Revenue Service Officer from Tamil Nadu and directed that he be attached to the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) headquarters.

In a letter to the chairman of CBDT, the Commission said after review of electoral preparedness in Tamil Nadu, it has decided that K G Arunraj, IRS, be transferred from Tamil Nadu and attached with the CBDT headquarters immediately.

''A compliance report may be furnished by 10 AM on March 10,'' the poll panel told the CBDT chairman.

Separately, the poll panel also ordered suspension of and disciplinary action against superintendent of police (SP) D Kannan, facing probe under the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act.

In a letter to the chief secretary of the state, the EC noted that in the light of a criminal case in the Villupuram CB CID, the state home department through the state chief electoral officer had requested that D Kannan be transferred. Accordingly, the Commission had ordered his transfer and had allowed him to be posted in a non-election post. Later the state chief electoral officer had forwarded the report of the state home department wherein it was reported that a case has been registered against Kannan under the IPC and the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women Act, 1998 which is being investigated by the Crime Branch CID-II.

''Considering the gravity of the case and report of the Home Department of Tamil Nadu, the Commission has directed that D Kannan be placed under suspension immediately and disciplinary proceedings initiated against him,'' the Commission said. Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu will be held on April 6.

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