The Maharashtra government on Wednesday appointed three information commissioners under the Right To Information Act, an official release said.

Makarand Madhusudan Ranade, Pradeep Kumar Vyas and Shekhar Manohar Channe were appointed as information commissioners at the state information commission.

Earlier, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Wednesday appointed senior IAS officer S Chockalingam as the new chief electoral officer (CEO) of Maharashtra.

The ECI announced the appointment in a post on social media platform X. The 1996-batch IAS officer will replace incumbent CEO Shrikant M Deshpande. The poll panel asked Chockalingam to report to the ECI office once he takes charge from Deshpande.

A CEO supervises work related to Assembly/Parliament elections in a state/Union Territory under the overall superintendence, direction and control of the ECI. After the Lok Sabha polls, likely in April-May, Maharashtra will see the Assembly elections in the second half of 2024.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Police on Wednesday registered a case against unidentified persons for allegedly forging the signature and stamp of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an official said.

The forgery came to light due to the alertness of the staff of the Chief Minister`s Office (CMO) after they received some memorandums suggesting certain actions.

A complaint was lodged by the desk officer of the CMO this evening at Marine Drive police station.

The CMO receives memorandums and letters signed by the chief minister with remarks for further action. The documents are registered with the postage section and the e-office system before they are dispatched to the departments concerned, it said.

Recently, the CMO received 10 to 12 memorandums with forged signatures and stamps of the chief minister.

The chief minister took a serious note and directed the CMO to lodge a police complaint. Accordingly, the CMO desk officer approached the police.

An FIR was registered under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating ),471 (using as genuine a forged document), and 473 (making or possessing a counterfeit seal) of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons, the police official said.

At least 12 memorandums with the forged signature and stamp of the CM received by the CMO were about demanding funds and transfers.

As the stamping on the memorandums is done at the CMO, the desk officer observed that some memorandums were stamped, which led to suspicion, the police official added.

The chief minister has also asked the staff to be more vigilant, the CMO said. (With inputs from PTI)

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