The Election Commission (EC) on Monday halted the appointment of an army officer as Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) by the Jammu and Kashmir administration, just one day before the Union Territory votes in the third phase of assembly elections.
In a written directive to the Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir, the EC referred to the administration’s order appointing Colonel Vikrant Prasher from the Para High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg as the SSP (Training) and Special (Operations) in the J&K Police. The EC cited the Model Code of Conduct in effect due to the assembly elections, which prohibits the transfer of officers connected to the polls.
The commission stated, “Without going into the rationale at this stage, the process and urgency of posting an Army officer as SSP in the civil side during the period of operation of MCC, the Commission hereby directs that the order shall be kept in abeyance with immediate effect.” It further noted that if the order had already been implemented, the status quo prior to its issuance must be restored immediately.
The EC has requested the J&K Chief Secretary to submit a compliance report by 11 AM on October 1, along with a detailed explanation regarding the issuance of the order without the necessary clearance from the commission.
The third phase of J&K elections is scheduled for October 1, with over 39.18 lakh voters eligible to cast their votes at 5,060 polling stations across 40 assembly segments in Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, and Kathua in the Jammu region, as well as Baramulla, Bandipora, and Kupwara in north Kashmir. The voter turnout has been robust in earlier phases, recording 61.38% participation in the first phase on September 18 and 57.31% in the second phase on September 25. This marks the first assembly election in J&K since it was reorganized into a Union Territory following the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019.
