National/Alive News: An RTI response has revealed that two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, wrote separate letters to Cabinet Secretary T. V. Somanathan raising concerns over the functioning of Election Commission official Manish Garg. However, the Cabinet Secretariat did not initiate any action on the complaints.
The information was provided in response to an RTI application filed by activist Lokesh K. Batra. According to the response, the Cabinet Secretariat did not treat the letters as official communications from the Election Commission. It also felt that intervening in the matter could be viewed as interference in the functioning of a constitutional body.
Dispute Over Allocation of Work
Manish Garg has faced questions over an order that reportedly changed the responsibilities of senior officials without consulting the Election Commissioners or the officers concerned.
According to media reports, the two Election Commissioners subsequently overturned the order. On July 30, they cancelled the decision concerning the allocation of work to Garg and directed that the existing arrangement remain in place until a consensus was reached on any proposed changes within the Commission.
Garg Appointed Deputy Election Commissioner in 2024
Manish Garg is a 1996-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre. In August 2024, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved his appointment as Deputy Election Commissioner. He assumed charge on September 2, 2024.
Before his appointment, Garg served as the Chief Electoral Officer of Himachal Pradesh.
Earlier Concerns Over Electoral IT Systems
Garg’s name had also emerged in a controversy over the functioning of the Election Commission’s voter-list information technology systems and officials’ access to them.
According to a report by The Indian Express, Election Commissioner Sukhbir Singh Sandhu had raised concerns about electoral officers’ access to the ERONet software. He reportedly pointed out that several officers lacked full access to the system, potentially affecting their ability to discharge statutory responsibilities related to electoral rolls.
Election Commissioners Raised Objections 14 Times in 10 Months
The latest RTI disclosure comes amid broader questions about the Commission’s internal functioning and decision-making processes.
On September 25, The Indian Express reported that the two Election Commissioners had raised objections to the Commission’s decisions and procedures at least 14 times over a period of 10 months. Their concerns reportedly included control over voter-list data and the sharing of information with officials.
On September 26, the Election Commission stated that the order concerning the allocation of work to Garg had not been implemented. It also maintained that oversight of the IT department had not, in practice, been removed.
On October 3, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh questioned Garg’s role and the functioning of the Commission’s IT systems.
On October 21, information obtained through the RTI revealed that the letters written by both Election Commissioners had reached the Cabinet Secretariat and were forwarded to the relevant officials. However, the contents of the letters were not disclosed.
The latest disclosure adds to questions surrounding internal disagreements within the Election Commission, particularly over administrative decisions, access to electoral data and the handling of concerns raised by its senior members.
