Panaji: Acting under Election Commission orders, Goa government has suspended a top official for breaching the code of conduct.
Director of State Animal Husbandry Department, Siddhivinayak Naik, who had violated election code of conduct by offering job letters to certain candidates, was suspended last night, officials said on Wednesday.
"Initially, we wanted to avoid suspension. But since the Election Commission recommended, we suspended the official last night," state chief secretary Sanjay Srivastava said.
Meanwhile, Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told reporters in Panaji that "nobody dare defy the Election Commission's order".
The EC had a few days ago directed the state government to suspend Naik. Initially, the government did not act on it and sought the official to be pardoned. The Commission, however, insisted on suspension. Accordingly, the suspension order was issued on Wednesday night.
"We are monitoring the compliance of the order. We expect that officers should not be partisan," Quraishi said, adding that strict action would be taken against government officers in case of dereliction of duty.
The EC team which visited Goa on Wednesday reviewed the arrangements for the Assembly polls scheduled on March 3.
The officials met political parties and discussed issues like electoral rolls, enforcement of model code of conduct, use of money, paid news, interference by ministers, among others.
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