Kolkata, Mar 16: In an unprecedented move, the Election Commission has directed the West Bengal government to replace Kolkata Police Commissioner Gautam Mohan Chakraborty as his tenure has crossed three years and sought a three-member panel to select a new incumbent.
"Yesterday evening, the Election Commission sent an instruction to Chief Electoral Officer Sunil Gupta stating that Gautam Mohan Chakraborty's tenure as Police Commissioner has crossed three years and so he has to be replaced," additional CEO N K Sahana told reporters today.
Sahana said the Commission sought a three-member panel to be referred to it as early as possible and that the EC's communication had been forwarded to chief secretary Samar Ghosh by the CEO himself.
"As soon as the panel is received from the state government, we will send it to the Election Commission," Sahana said.
This is for the first time that the Election Commission has intervened to select a new police commissioner of a city.
Election department sources said that a general order of the Election Commission on December 14, 2010, to the state government had stated that any police official, if he is in the post at the same place for three years and if he is posted in the home district, he or she should be transferred.
The sources said that it was the responsibility of the state government to transfer those police officials before March one when the election dates for the state were announced. PTI
