In a significant administrative action following judicial intervention, the election officer for Pimpri Chinchwad has removed a returning officer from poll duty after a lapse in handling nomination papers.
Officer Removed and Replaced
On Monday, Pimpri Chinchwad Election Officer Shravan Hardikar ordered the removal of Returning Officer Hanumant Patil. Patil, who was overseeing wards 16, 17, 18, and 22, has been repatriated to his parent organization, the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), where he serves as a regional officer in Baramati. He has been replaced by Archana Tambe, who is currently a deputy collector in the land acquisition department in Pune.
The Case of the Missing Nomination Forms
The action was triggered by a serious incident where the A and B forms of NCP candidate Jayashree Moreshwar Bhondawe from ward 16B disappeared from the election office. This led to her being declared an independent candidate after the scrutiny process. The candidate subsequently approached the Bombay High Court, which directed election officials to conduct a hearing and examine the matter thoroughly.
"An inquiry was initiated, and it emerged that the lapse occurred at the returning officer's office," stated Election Officer Shravan Hardikar. He explained that a request was sent to the divisional commissioner seeking the officer's transfer, and the order was passed accordingly.
High Court's Role and Resolution
Hardikar detailed that the High Court had directed the election department to conduct a detailed inquiry and imposed a temporary stay on the allocation of the party symbol for ward 16B. "A hearing was conducted in my office as per the HC order. All evidence was examined and it was established that the candidate submitted the papers in time, but they disappeared from the custody of the election office. Accordingly, her party symbol was restored," he said.
The inquiry, which included reviewing CCTV footage, confirmed that the forms went missing due to an error by poll staff, despite all nominations being expected to be properly collected and stored. Hardikar noted that a large number of nominations were filed on the last day, which may have contributed to the oversight.
Candidate Bhondawe maintained that her forms had reached the election office on time and that she possessed an acknowledgement receipt mentioning the time of submission. Following the inquiry on Saturday, her candidature as an NCP nominee, along with the party symbol, was officially restored.
