Amendment status not verified — confirm the current text below against the official source.
(1) There shall be a State Panchayat Election Officer appointed by the State Govenment who shall supervise the conduct of all elections in the State under this Act and the rules made thereunder. (2) There shall be a District Panchayat Election Officer appointed by the Sate Government, who shall, subject to the superintendence and control of the State Panchayat Election Officer, co-ordinate and supervise all work in the district in connection with the conduct of such elections. (3) The State Panchayat Election Officer shall appoint a Returning Officer for holding the election and bye-election of members of a Zilla Parishad and the District Panchayat Election Officer shall appoint a Returning Officer for holding the election and bye-election of members of a Gram Panchayat or a Panchayat Samiti. Such Returning Officers shall be officers of the State Government. (4) The State Panchayat Election Officer or the District Panchayat Election Officer as the case may be, may appoint one or more Assistant Elections. (b) (c) 353 The West Bengal Panchayat Act, 1973. [West Ben. Act (Part VI.—Chapter XIX.—Miscellaneous.—Section 204.) Returning Officers to assist a Returning Officer in the performance of his functions. Every Assistant Returning Officer shall, subject to the control of the Returning Officer, be competent to perform all or any of the functions of the Returning Officer: Provided that no Assistant Returning Officer shall perfrom any of the functions of the Returning Officer which relate to the scrutiny of nominations unless the Returning Officer is unavoidably prevented from performing the said function. (5) The Returning Officer shall appoint Presiding Officers and Polling Officers for holding the election or bye-election referred to in sub-section (3), but he shall not appoint any person who has been employed by or on behalf of, or has otherwise been working for, a candidate in or about the election. The counting of votes shall be done by the Presiding Officers immediately after the election and the result of the counting shall be declared forthwith. (6) The powers, functions, and duties of Returning Officers, Presiding Officers and Polling Officers and the procedure for holding the elections shall be such as may be prescribed. (7) Any rule made in pursuance of sub-section (6) may provide that a breach thereof shall be punishable on conviction to an imprisonment not exceeding one year of either description or to a fine not exceeding rupees one thousand or to both. Disputes as to election.