West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officer to submit report on Arun Gorain case to High Court by Sept 10

Kolkata: West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officer (WB-CEO) Manoj Agarwal will submit a report to Calcutta High Court on September 10 as directed by the HC, in connection with the Arun Gorain case.

The petitioner Gorain was serving as Assistant System Manager, Kakdwip Sub Division, South 24 Parganas. He was involved in the process of revision of the electoral rolls under direction of the Election Commission of India.

In May this year, FIRs against three persons, including suspension of assistant system manager of Kakdwip subdivision Arun Gorain for “dereliction of duty” in Kakdwip subdivision in West Bengal’s South 24 Parganas district was done.


“An FIR was lodged against him along with others and he has been placed under suspension. A criminal proceeding is sub judice. 5. In the instant writ petition, the petitioner prays for a direction upon the Election Commission of India to conduct a probe into the illegalities of manipulation of electoral rolls in various assembly constituencies in the State of West Bengal. His allegation is that foreign nationals and Rohingyas are also being included in the electoral roll,” the court order has said.

On July 20, during the hearing, Justice Amrita Sinha sought a report from the WB-CEO on the matter.

“It has been submitted that fake certificates of birth, death and domicile are being relied upon for revision of the roll on the ground of addition, revision, modification and migration of the electors,” the court order said.

FIRs were filed against three officials Arun Gorain, assistant system manager of Kakdwip subdivision, was suspended for alleged gross misconduct on May 15. Gorain allegedly committed fraudulent activity by changing the mobile number of AERO, replacing it by his own mobile number. Following the report received from the District Election Officer, South 24 Parganas, apart from suspension, disciplinary proceedings have been initiated against him. Two others were also named in the FIR.

BLO appointment
Meanwhile, altogether 72,253 Block Level Officers have been appointed out of total 80, 681, according to West Bengal-Chief Electoral Officer (WB-CEO’s) office even as Bengal gears up for 2026.

Till date, around 8428 are due at various stages and all will be completed soon, a top official told ET.

The highest number of dues are in Utttar Dinajpur, which is 975, followed by Hooghly which is 867. The lowest number of BLO appointments due is in Dakshin Dinajpur, which is 4.