Thiruvananthapuram | Kerala Chief Electoral Officer Rathan U Kelkar on Saturday sent the Deputy CEO and a section officer back to their parent departments over an EC document sent to political parties that bore a BJP seal.

The decision was taken following an inquiry into the incident conducted by Additional CEO P B Nooh, IAS, a statement from EC said.

Based on the inquiry report, the Deputy Chief Electoral Officer and the section officer were relieved of their election-related duties and sent back to their parent departments, the statement added.

The controversy surfaced after the CPI(M) flagged the issue on the social media platform 'X', sharing an affidavit attached to a March 19, 2019, letter sent to political parties that bore the BJP Kerala seal instead of the Election Commission’s official seal.

The EC had termed it a “purely clerical error” and said it had been rectified immediately.

It also said that the official responsible for the error had been placed under suspension.