- EC Joshi, Sandhu flagged Deputy EC Maneesh Garg's actions.
- Concerns raised over removal of oversight for ECI's IT wing.
- Maneesh Garg now directly handles crucial IT file routings.
Election Commissioners, Vivek Joshi and SS Sandhu wrote letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan to investigate the working of Senior Deputy EC Maneesh Garg. While the two letters were written separately in July, both flagged similar concerns related to violation of standard procedure, reportedly dealing with the wrongful removal of oversight, into the working of EC’s director general of IT, Seema Khanna.
Letters written by Joshi and Sandhu alleged that Garg’s decision to remove the routing of the DG (IT)’s files to a deputy EC (DEC) was a violation of standard procedure .
What did the letters point out?
The two ECs Joshi and Sandhu, allegedly highlighted that the official files were previously routed to Deputy Election Commissioner, Sanjay Kumar, who is an experienced officer, having knowledge of the overall working of the electoral process. Garg allegedly undermined the electoral process, while removing this layer of oversight, the letters said.
This is significant because it provides a context to the clarification issued by the Election Commission last week that maintained that the letters written by the ECs to Somanathan were not related to a policy matter of the poll body or its IT department, but merely about the working of an officer deputed to the Election Commission of India.
Their clarification added that the work redistribution issued by Garg was “not actually implemented after the orders of the two commissioners and the oversight over the IT division by the DEC was never actually withdrawn”
What Happened Next?
The EC Garg then claimed that the oversight wasn't permanently removed as the commissioners intervened. Kumar was reportedly transferred back to his home cadre in August. At present, Maneesh Garg himself handles those file routings, HT reported.
Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan forwarded the complaints to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT). The government treated the letters as an internal notification rather than a direct request to intervene, avoiding interference with the Election Commission's independence.
When Garg Met the Two ECs?
Meeting the two ECs, Garg explained that his decision was not aimed at addressing a hierarchy issue since Khanna was senior to Kumar. Khanna was promoted from a level 14 to level 15 officer earlier this year, EC officials said. Her former colleagues in the National Informatics Centre (NIC) claimed that she’s an efficient professional who was part of launching the government’s own e-mail system.
It is significant to note that ECI IT Chief Seema Khanna faces scrutiny over the centralised control of electoral roll software, ECINet, which election commissioners allege restricts statutory powers of EROs. This controversy, highlighted by a Goa incident where 97 voters were excluded, raised questions about access to the voter database.