Chandigarh, Dec. 12 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has criticised the role of the StateElection Commission (SEC), Punjab, in conducting theZila Parishad and Block Samiti elections scheduled for December 14 and said that Patialasenior superintendent of police (SSP) Varun Sharma should have been divested of pollduty pending inquiry into the controversy surrounding the audio clip. The clip purportedly features the Patiala SSP directing his subordinates to prevent opposition candidates from filing their nomination papers for the elections. The SEC was entrusted with the conduct of panchayat elections under Article 243-K of the Constitution and, thus, was expected to be non-aligned, while discharging its duties, including that of conducting and supervising and concluding the panchayat election process, observed the bench of chiefjustice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry said in thedetailed order released on Thursday. "In this process, the conduct of the commission ought not to give an impression that it is favouring any person or political party. It is expected of the state election commission to conduct itself without partiality. The actions of the commission ought not only to be actually impartial to all, but also appear to be impartial," it remarked. The court was hearing a clutch of public interest litigations (PILs) by Punjab leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Daljit Singh Cheema on Wednesday. Both had sought an independent probe into the audio-clip controversy and also alleged opposition candidates were prevented from filing their nomination papers to ensure victory of candidates belonging to the ruling AAP. Now, the court has directed that to ensure free, fair and impartial elections, the SEC will issue directions to all station house officers (SHOs) and all police personnel involved in election duty to conduct themselves in a non-partisan manner without indulging in any kind of activity "deleterious to the concept of free and fair elections". However, the oral directions issued during the hearingon Wednesday that the audio-clip be sent for examination by the Central Forensic Sciences Laboratory (CFSL) in Chandigarh is not a part of the final order. It only records that audio and video recordings furnished by the complainants have been sent for verification to the forensic science laboratory situated in Punjab. On Wednesday, the SEC had told the court that SAD leaders, including Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was the first to share the clip, were sent notices several times to join the investigation into the audio clip case, which is being probed by an ADGP-level officer. However, they have not appeared, except one, Arshdeep Singh Kler. The probe can't proceed unless original devices are provided. However, the clip submitted by Kler has been sent for examination by a Mohali-based government forensic laboratory, the SEC submitted, adding that a probe was underway. The elections for 22 zila parishads and 153 block samitis are scheduled on December 14, while counting will be held on December 17. The last date for filing nominations was December 4, which saw complaints of snatching of nomination papers in Patiala district and other areas. Patiala SSP Varun Sharma had proceeded on a week-long leave ahead of the court hearing on Wednesday....