RTI Confirms Paper Trail: Two Election Commissioners Complained Against Senior Panel Officer to Cabinet Secretary

New Delhi: A response obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) Act has confirmed that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi lodged formal complaints with Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan against a senior panel officer. The disclosure brings to light an internal administrative dispute within the Election Commission of India (ECI) that previously sparked intense political debate regarding poll panel procedures.

According to the RTI reply, the communications—dated July 29—reached the Cabinet Secretariat on July 30 and were subsequently logged into official records. By August 5, the Cabinet Secretary forwarded copies of the correspondence to Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) officials as well as Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Disputed Work-Allocation Order Triggered Letters

The internal discord stemmed from a late-July work-allocation order issued without prior consultation across the full commission. The directive altered administrative oversight concerning electoral roll infrastructure, prompting both Election Commissioners to flag procedural violations to top administrative authorities.

Key details established by the RTI filing include:

• Official Paper Trail: The communications comprised individual letters from Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, which were registered at the Cabinet Secretariat.
• Administrative Routing: The Cabinet Secretariat acknowledged receipt of the letters and circulated copies to the DoPT and the office of the Chief Election Commissioner.
• Scope of Complaint: Official clarifications previously issued by the panel noted that the grievance centered on the functioning of an officer on deputation rather than core electoral policy matters.

Cabinet Declined to Intervene in Individual Capacity Complaints

Records accessed via the RTI mechanism indicate that the Cabinet Secretariat treated the communications as submissions made by the commissioners in their individual capacity rather than formal institutional resolutions from the Election Commission itself. Consequently, administrative files show that the cabinet leadership limited its response to formally acknowledging receipt of the letters without taking separate punitive or executive action against the official named in the complaints.

The disclosure marks the first official confirmation of the administrative friction within Nirvachan Sadan, following weeks of public speculation and political crossfire over internal panel management.