The Cabinet Secretariat has declined to act on complaints by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi against senior EC official Maneesh Garg, saying their letters did not represent the Election Commission as a wholeThe issue came to light through documents released under the RTI Act.
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Two election commissioners complained against senior EC official’s conduct, cabinet secretariat declined action: RTI (Image: @ECISVEEP)
The Cabinet Secretariat has decided not to take direct action on complaints filed by two Election Commissioners against a senior official of the Election Commission of India (ECI)It said the complaints were submitted by the commissioners in their personal capacity and did not represent an official communication from the entire poll panelThe matter came to light through documents released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, according to a report by news agency PTIThe records show that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi sent separate letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on July 29, raising concerns about the functioning of Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg.
The two commissioners alleged that Garg had changed the work responsibilities of senior deputy election commissioners, deputy election commissioners, directors general and other officers of similar rank without consulting the Election Commission or the officials concerned.
They also claimed that the changes were made despite earlier instructions asking officers not to alter work responsibilities without prior discussion or approval from the Commission.
In its response to an RTI application filed by activist Commodore Lokesh K Batra (retd), the Cabinet Secretariat said the complaints were serious but could not be treated as an official representation from the Commission as a whole.
“The above communications are from the ECs in their individual capacity and, while they must be taken with due seriousness, they cannot be seen as a formal communication from the Commission as a whole,” the note said.
The Secretariat said that acting on the complaints without an official communication from the entire Commission could be inappropriateIt also warned that such action might be seen as interference in the functioning of an independent constitutional body.
Instead, the Secretariat recommended sending an acknowledgement to both commissioners and sharing copies of the communication with the Chief Election Commissioner’s office for informationThe matter was also recorded so that it could be considered in future decisions concerning the officer.
Why did the Election Commissioners approach the Cabinet Secretary?
The letters have raised questions about why Sandhu and Joshi approached the Cabinet Secretary instead of relying solely on the Election Commission’s internal procedures.
According to reports by India Today and other news outlets, the dispute arose from an order changing the distribution of work among senior officersThe commissioners objected to the changes and raised concerns about the process followed.
The Election Commission later clarified that the issue was related to the functioning of an officer on deputation and not a policy decision of the CommissionIt also said the revised work-allocation order was not implemented after the two commissioners intervened, and that oversight of the Commission’s IT division was never withdrawn.
The controversy has brought attention to the way administrative decisions are handled within the Election Commission, a constitutional body responsible for conducting elections in India.
The Cabinet Secretariat’s position, as reflected in the RTI documents, was that the commissioners’ letters could not be treated as a formal complaint from the Commission itselfIt maintained that acting without such an official communication could raise concerns about executive interference in the poll panel’s independent functioning.
