The Telegraph report on Thursday

Calcutta, March 10: State chief electoral officer Sunil Kumar Gupta today referred the question of the incomplete state emblem to his bosses in New Delhi for a decision, Election Commission officials said in Calcutta.

The motto “Satyameva Jayate” was missing below the Lion Capital of Asoka printed on paper strips used to seal some electronic voting machines in Birbhum. The Telegraph published a report on the missing motto on Thursday.

“The matter will be considered by officials at Nirvachan Sadan. If any corrective measure needs to be taken, it will have to be decided by the bosses at the capital,” said joint chief electoral officer Dibyendu Sarkar this evening.

“A clipping of the front-page report of The Telegraph was sent to the Election Commission headquarters from Gupta’s office this afternoon,” a commission official said in Calcutta.

Commission officials expressed the fear that all paper strips for sealing EVMs in the five states could be carrying incomplete images of the state emblem, which makes resealing in time practically impossible.

“All the strips were printed together from one place. The oversight could have affected the entire lot. We will have to find that out soon,” said a commission official from Delhi.

“If all the strips were printed without the two words, it would make rectification impossible for all practical purposes. For the elections starting next month in Assam, Bengal, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, over 2.5 lakh EVMs are being used. Resealing them all would take more than a month,” he added.

According to the law that prohibits the misuse of the emblem, the motto Satyameva Jayate — Truth alone triumphs — written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital is part of the State Emblem of India.

The other joint chief electoral officer, Saibal Barman, had doubted yesterday if such a lapse had at all taken place. Barman, the official in charge of EVMs in Bengal, had asked the newspaper to publish the photograph of the strip and the article before he offered a reaction. Today, Barman said: “Yes, I have seen it. It is being looked into.”

Nirvachan Sadan sources said that the paper strips were unlikely to be changed. “We have to be pragmatic. The oversight should be rectified, but the time it could take will not serve any practical purpose. We can’t possibly delay the elections for the inadvertent omission of a small detail,” said an official from Delhi.

“If the judiciary demands an explanation for the lapse, we will furnish an affidavit admitting the oversight and promise not to repeat it in future,” the official said.

Under the law, the improper use of the emblem can attract a maximum jail term of seven years and a fine of up to Rs 5,000.

An official of the Union home ministry, which periodically reminds state governments of the proper use of the emblem, said the ministry sends letters whenever such matters are noticed. “We will write (to the Election Commission),” said a senior official. A paramilitary force recently discovered that the insignia on the berets was erroneously designed. “They are being slowly phased out,” a source said.