On July 29, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi sent letters to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan demanding disciplinary action against Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg, who had reallocated work within the Administration Division hours after assuming charge on July 28.
The letters alleged that Garg’s order, issued without consultation, violated the Commission’s internal protocols. Somanathan acknowledged receipt but warned that intervening would risk undermining the constitutional independence of the Election Commission.
The request was prompted by a prior RTI filing by retired Commodore Lokesh K Batra, who sought to document the incident after The Indian Express exposed a separate controversy involving Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Batra’s application unveiled the Cabinet Secretariat’s file notings, revealing a series of internal discussions from August 3–4.
Garg, an IAS officer from Himachal Pradesh, was appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet and moved to the Election Commission in 2023. The Secretariat noted that any action would need to stem from the Commission itself to avoid accusations of executive interference.
The opposition has seized on the episode, calling for Kumar’s resignation amid a broader scrutiny of the Commission’s governance. A formal response from the CEC is expected within the next week, following the Cabinet Secretariat’s draft directive.