Section 21 in Haryana Panchayati Raj Election Rules, 1994
21. [ Appointment of Presiding and Polling Officer. [Substituted by S.O. 117/H.A. 11/1994/S. 209/2014, dated 21st November, 2014.]
(1)The District Election Officer (Panchayat) or when so authorized by him the Additional Deputy Commissioner shall appoint a Presiding Officer for each polling station and such Polling Officer or officers to assist the Presiding Officer, as he thinks necessary:Provided that no person, who is not a Government servant or a servant of any authority under the municipal law or any public undertaking under the Government, shall be appointed as Presiding Officer:Provided further that if a Polling Officer is absent from the polling station other than a person who has been employed by or on the behalf of, or has been otherwise working for, a candidate in or about the election, to be the Polling Officer during the absence of the former officer and inform the Returning Officer (Panchayat) and District Election Officer (Panchayat) or the officer so authorized by him as the case may be.(2)A Polling Officer shall subject to the direction of the State Election Commissioner, if so authorized by the Presiding Officer, perform all or any of the functions of Presiding Officer under these rules.(3)If the Presiding Officer, owing to illness or any other unavoidable cause, is obliged to absent himself from the polling station, his functions shall be performed by such Polling as has been previously authorized by the District Election Officer (Panchayat) or any officer authorized by him, as the case may be, to perform such functions during any such absence.(4)Reference in these rules to the Presiding Officer shall, unless the context otherwise requires, be deemed to include any person performing any function which he is authorized to perform under-sub-rule (2) or, as the case may be under sub-rule (3).]
