New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has written a letter to former Chief Election Commissioner Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, formally taking him on for his criticism of the EC for not acting on poll code violations.
The letter written by deputy election commissioner Sandeep Saxena pointed out that during Quraishi's tenure no legal action was taken for violation of Model Code of Conduct under The Representation of Peoples Act and IPC.
"In its notice to BJP leader Anurag Thakur, the EC cited Sections 123 and 125 of the RP Act. What is baffling, however, is that if the Commission had found them guilty of offences deserving punishment, why did it stop short of filing FIRs?" Quraishi had written.
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As per sources, the letter from EC mentions that during his tenure only nine show-cause notices were issued. Besides, only two cases resulted in the closure and a total of five warnings and two advisories were issued.
“No directions were issued to lodge FIR in any MCC violation cases by the EC during the aforesaid elections,” EC wrote in its defence.
EC further went on to allege that its former employee was suffering from "selective amnesia" for his constant criticism.
"Election Commission is planning to publish a compilation of actions taken against violators of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) in General Elections of Assembly and Parliament during last 20 years starting back from 11 February 2020, when the results of General Elections to Assembly of NCT of Delhi were announced. A list of MCC notices issued and action taken by Commission during the period when you were holding the office of CEC is enclosed,” Dr Sandeep Saxena wrote in the letter.
