Jaipur: Seeking "complete neutrality" of the poll officials during the coming Lok Sabha elections, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) T S Krishnamurthy today (Feb 23, 2004) warned that any "deliberate mistake by election officers will be dealt with ruthlessly".

"There may be mistakes in good faith, which would not attract any punishment but any deliberate mistake by election officers would be dealt with ruthlessly," he said while inaugurating a two-day training programme for electoral officers of several States organised by State Institute of Public Administration.

"Neutrality of civil services in conducting elections is the most important ingredient of the poll process, but unfortunately our experience had been mixed. There are excellent instances but there are bad experiences too," he said.

Reminding the officials that the "whole world was watching the way they would be conducting the coming polls", the CEC said, "There is reason to be elated on our track record of conducting free, fair and peaceful polls in past, including international recognition for conducting free elections in Jammu and Kashmir.

"But it is our duty to keep up our credibility by further improving our performance," he said, adding that elections were becoming difficult to handle these days because they were now being fought aggressively, both physically and monetarily.