President Ram Nath Kovind has accepted the resignation of Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa with effect from August 31, a Law Ministry notification issued on Tuesday said.
Mr. Lavasa had recently put in his papers after being appointed vice-president of Asian Development Bank in July and is expected to assume charge next month, according to sources.
The Law Ministry notification said: “In pursuance of second proviso to section 4 of the Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991 (11 of 1991), the President is pleased to accept the resignation tendered by Shri Ashok Lavasa, Election Commissioner, with effect from the 31st August, 2020.”
Mr. Lavasa was in the running to become the Chief Election Commissioner upon the retirement of current CEC Sunil Arora in April 2021. He was appointed Election Commissioner in 2018.
Mr. Lavasa, a retired 1980-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, had given dissenting opinions when the EC cleared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then BJP president, Amit Shah, of alleged model code of conduct violations during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He was in the news again when his family members came under the scanner of the Income Tax Department.
Announcing his appointment as V-P for private sector operations and public-private partnerships, the Manila-based ADB said he had worked closely with many ADB projects as Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs. He retired as Union Finance Secretary.
