Saturday, February 19 2005 21:11 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Choosing not to hit back at Haryana Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala's attack, which it called "character assassination", the Election Commission today (Feb 19, 2005) dismissed it as "beneath contempt."

The commission "is deeply pained and anguished at certain remarks (of Chautala) which amount to character assassination and particularly the singling out of one of the members," an EC statement said in an obvious reference to Chautala's verbal onslaught against Chief Election Commissioner T S Krishna Murthy.

"The allegations made against the commission as also against its officers are categorically dismissed as beneath contempt," the statement said.

Carrying on his attack on the Commission, Chautala tonight said its decision on postal balloting in the Assembly polls in the State was against law and threatened to go to court on the issue.

The Chief Minister, who addressed two press conferences in the national capital in a day to launch a verbal onslaught on the Commission, had said its decision on postal ballots violated the Representation of the People Act.