Maharashtra elections: Thane Municipal Corporation okays registration of criminal case against private school for refusing poll duty orders

Thane: The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has cleared the process for registration of a criminal case against a private English-medium school for allegedly refusing to comply with the election department's orders to deploy teaching staff for poll duty, civic commissioner and district election officer Saurabh Rao said on Sunday.Confirming the move, senior inspector N Kolhatkar of Kasarwadavli police station said a case is being registered under Section 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with other relevant provisions. "Once the case is registered, a notice will be issued to the school on Monday," he added.
A senior civic official said the formal clearance to proceed against the school was granted late on Saturday night. Rao, in a late Sunday press statement, said the election department teams twice attempted to serve appointment orders on the school principal, but were refused. A subsequent notice was also ignored, prompting action in line with State Election Commission guidelines.Civic officials said this is probably the first instance in Thane of such stringent action against a school authority for non-cooperation in the election process. In a related development, more than 2,000 staff who skipped pre-poll training were warned of legal action on Friday, after which most reported for training on Saturday.Rao also warned that employees assigned election duty who remain absent on January 14 and 15 will face strict action.