Mumbai:In a jolt to the Maharashtra government, the Election Commission of India on Monday rejected the government’s request and ordered the removal of the country’s richest civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation chief Iqbal Singh Chahal along with its additional commissioners and deputy commissioners.
The Maharashtra government had requested the Election Commission to exempt transfers of BMC commissioner Chahal and other officers, to ensure that pre-monsoon preparation works in Mumbai are not affected.
The commission had rejected the government’s request a fortnight ago stating that officers who have completed three years in office or are posted in their hometowns should be transferred. However, Chief minister Eknath Shinde had requested the ECI to exempt these officers who were overseeing civic works related to monsoon. These officers were in no way connected to polls and should be allowed to continue, he had said.
However, the apex polling body on Monday directed the Maharashtra government to transfer the officers linked to the election-related work, who have completed three years or are in their home districts.
According to reports, Maharashtra had not complied with the directions in respect of a few Municipal Commissioners and some Additional or Deputy Municipal Commissioners in the state.
The ECI directed the state chief secretary to transfer all the similarly placed Municipal Commissioners and Additional or Deputy Municipal Commissioners of other Corporations in Maharashtra.
Chahal, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1989 batch, was appointed Mumbai municipal commissioner on May 8, 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic when the government replaced Praveen Singh Pardeshi. Chahal continued to hold the top municipal post even after the Uddhav Thackeray government collapsed and Eknath Shinde took charge as chief minister.
In March 2022, Chahal started running the BMC as its administrator after the term of the elected corporators expired on March 7, 2022.
