Teacher’s postal ballot uploaded in social media, probe launched | Madurai News – Times of India

Tenkasi: Police have registered a case and are investigating into violations of secrecy of ballot after a photo of a postal ballot paper with the vote cast of a school teacher was found posted on social media recently. The case was filed based on a complaint given by Congress candidate for Tenkasi assembly constituency, S Palani Nadar. While the teacher has feigned ignorance, it is suspected that another teacher might have been involved.
The ballot paper, which belonged to a teacher from a government aided school in Tenkasi district was shared on Facebook and WhatsApp last week. Subsequently, the Tenkasi district chief educational officer recommended for her immediate suspension as of March 28.
However, the teacher has claimed innocence and the Tamil Nadu Primary School Teachers Federation (TNPTF) too has come out in support of her, noting that she did not have a social media account and that someone else had posted the photo in their account.
A case has been registered with the police due to violation of secrecy of ballot under various sections of the Representation of the People (RP) Act and Information Technology (IT) Act. Investigation revealed that another teacher from the school might have been involved in the misdeed.
“It is a stray incident but it is being taken very seriously. Investigation is still underway and we will get the full picture of what exactly happened soon. The teacher has been temporarily stopped from election duty but has not been suspended. If she is found innocent, she will continue on election duty and strict action will be taken against those responsible,” said Tenkasi district collector and district election officer, G S Sameeran.
Tenkasi SP is expected to submit a detailed report to the collector in one or two days.

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