Cabinet Secretariat upholds Election Commission autonomy, declines direct intervention

The Cabinet Secretariat declined to intervene directly on administrative complaints submitted by two Election Commissioners, citing the constitutional independence of the Election Commission of India (ECI) and routing the matter to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Documents released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act show that Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi wrote separate, nearly identical letters to Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan on 29 July. The submissions raised procedural objections regarding Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, who had issued an internal work-allocation order on 28 July while holding additional charge of the poll body's Administration Division.

Rather than initiating executive action over an independent constitutional authority, the Cabinet Secretariat preserved statutory boundaries. In internal notes dated 3 and 4 August, the Secretariat recorded that the letters represented individual submissions rather than a collective, formal representation from the Commission as a whole.

Protecting constitutional boundaries

The Secretariat’s internal assessment noted that any direct executive measure in the absence of an official Commission view could be inappropriate and might be construed as executive interference in an independent constitutional body.

"The Commission is a Constitutional Body and is insulated from executive interference by design to ensure that it functions independently and in a transparent manner," the Secretariat note stated. It underlined that while Garg is an Indian Administrative Service officer appointed on deputation by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, his administrative conduct within the organisation remains governed by internal ECI rules.

Institutional mechanism upheld

On 5 August, the Cabinet Secretariat issued formal acknowledgements to Sandhu and Joshi, copying the communications to the Principal Private Secretary to the Chief Election Commissioner, the Secretary of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), and the Establishment Officer.

The underlying administrative friction stemmed from Garg’s 28 July order reallocating duties across senior officers, including Director General (IT) Seema Khanna and Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar, primarily involving file routing within the information technology division. Sandhu and Joshi contended that the order bypassed consultation under Section 18 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which stipulates that business should ideally be conducted unanimously or decided by majority.

The Election Commission stated on 26 September that Garg's temporary redistribution order was never implemented following directions from the commissioners. The Commission also affirmed that internal administrative differences regarding deputation staff do not affect electoral policy or IT systems, and that Commission decisions consistently adhere to statutory procedures.