The Election Commission of India on Tuesday removed Soumya Ray – the deputy commissioner of police, south-west division (Behala) — on the ground that he is the husband of Trinamul Congress MLA from Sonarpur (South) Lovely Moitra and might influence the poll process.
Ray is the second IPS in the state to be removed by the EC after DGP Rajeev Kumar. The commission also requested the state government to submit a panel of the names of three eligible officers by 3pm on Wednesday to select the replacement for Soumya Ray.
The EC's directive refers to a 2021 letter issued by the commission, through which Ray, who was then the superintendent of police of Howrah (rural), had been removed after Trinamul had nominated Lovely as its candidate.
The commission in the letter (No. 464/ WBLA/ 2021 dated 17.03.2021) had said Ray’s transfer was based on the general principle that “close relatives of active public representatives may not be assigned such duties during elections, which may create any perception of biases/partiality”.
Ray became the police chief of Howrah (rural) after Trinamul came back to power in 2021. He was dragged into a controversy when the family members of a student leader, Anis Khan, alleged that police were responsible for his “killing”. Khan died after he fell from the rooftop of his residence in Amta in Howrah.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday expressed strong reservations about the transfer of the IPS officer.
“I don’t want to speak about the Election Commission but I want to speak about justice. What happens if his wife is an MLA? As far as I know, he became an IPS officer even before their marriage. Is there any bar on a government officer’s wife joining politics? Does it mean that a doctor's or a professor’s wife can’t contest the elections,” she asked at Chalsa in Jalpaiguri on Tuesday.
Mamata questioned the neutrality of the officers serving in the central agencies.
Mamata said: “If there is so much insistence on impartiality, how many officers have been removed from the ED, CBI and income tax?
“Even yesterday, the Prime Minister attended the RBI’s event. Whatever he does is right but if we do something, it amounts to a violation of the MCC,” the chief minister said.
Commission sources said in accordance with directives issued by the poll panel, officers of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and other senior state government officials whose spouses are involved in political activities, either as election candidates or active members of political parties, are prohibited from undertaking election-related duties.
Ray’s wife Lovely Moitra said: “Last time also he was transferred and we won. This will happen in this election also. We all know that it is being done under the instruction of the BJP. The people are with us.”
A senior BJP leader said: “We cannot comment on the decision of the Election Commission. The commission is committed to ensuring a level playing field for all political parties and is doing that.”
Special observers
The Election Commission has appointed Alok Sinha, a retired 1986-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, as the special general observer in Bengal. Sinha was the agriculture production commissioner (APC) of Uttar Pradesh when he retired in 2022.
The post of APC is considered in UP as next to the chief secretary. Sinha wasalso elected as the president of the IAS Association in UP in 2021.
Along with him, the commission has also appointed Anil Kumar Sharma, a retired 1984-batch IPS officer of the Punjab cadre, as the special police observer of the state.