Mukul Rohatgi told NDTV’s Shiv Aroor on Friday that the opposition has no legal footing to move against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, citing the absence of concrete evidence in the 14 administrative notes sent by Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The notes, published after a report by The Indian Express, raised concerns over procedural decisions but did not meet the threshold for impeachment.
— The Attorney General stressed that the Election Commission operates on a majority vote, and a single dissenting note cannot constitute grounds for removal. He compared the internal disagreements to those among Supreme Court judges, where differing opinions are recorded but a unanimous verdict is ultimately issued. Rohatgi added that the CEC’s vote carries the same weight as the other two commissioners, reinforcing the commission’s collective authority.
— When the two commissioners wrote to the Cabinet Secretary about alleged misallocation of work, Rohatgi slammed the move as a misunderstanding of the commission’s constitutional mandate. He questioned the relevance of the Cabinet Secretary’s involvement and urged that any dissent be formally recorded by the commissioners themselves. The EC’s own statement, released after the report, confirmed that all decisions were unanimous, a fact that Rohatgi used to counter the impeachment narrative.
— The opposition now faces a choice: file a fresh notice or pursue a different legal avenue, as Rohatgi dismissed the need for an inquiry committee. Rahul Gandhi’s recent remarks calling the EC a "destroyed" institution have added political pressure, but the legal standpoint remains clear: without substantive proof, the impeachment motion lacks viability. The Election Commission will likely issue a clarification on its internal procedures before the opposition’s next move.