RTI discloses Cabinet Secretariat forwarded commissioners' complaint letters directly to CEC Gyanesh Kumar

Documents revealed under a Right to Information (RTI) filing indicate that complaint letters sent internally by the Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, have been directly sent to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), Gyanesh Kumar.

These letters, which included complaints about administrative misconduct by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (DEC), Maneesh Garg, were also sent to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

Confidential communications in RTI filings reveal handling of ECI dispute

Official documents obtained under RTI filing detail how the executive offices handled confidential communications received by Sandhu and Joshi.

Internal proposal: In an internal proposal filed on August 3, it was suggested to seek an opinion of CEC Gyanesh Kumar in regard to the complaints made by the two election commissioners.

Individual capacity: In an internal note filed on August 4, it was stated that these letters should be considered individual communications of the two commissioners and not as an official communication of ECI.

Formal acknowledgements: Formal acknowledgement letters dated August 5 were sent to the Secretary of DoPT, the Establishment Officer, and the Principal Private Secretary of the CEC.

Dispute centered on ECI IT department protocol changes

The underlying rift stems from contentious administrative changes executed within the ECI's Information Technology division.

In their confidential letters, Sandhu and Joshi pointed out that DEC Maneesh Garg assumed additional charge of the Administration Division on July 28 while DEC Bhanu Prakash Yeturu was on leave. Within hours, Garg issued new work-allocation orders affecting senior officials without consulting the commission.

Both commissioners cited Sections 18(1) and 18(2) of the 2023 CEC/EC Act, while Commissioner Joshi noted that requested administrative files were withheld from his office. The IT division updates subsequently drew national scrutiny following reports that new system protocols restricted Electoral Registration Officers (EROs) from directly managing voter roll databases.

ECI rejects reports of internal divisions

Despite documentary evidence of written grievances sent to the Cabinet Secretariat, the Election Commission denied claims of institutional breakdown.

The Commission maintained that all operational decisions, including IT infrastructure updates, continue to be passed either unanimously or through majority consensus in full compliance with statutory protocols.