Cabinet Secretariat declines action on Election Commission complaints

Documents released under the Right to Information (RTI) Act reveal that the Cabinet Secretariat took no action regarding complaints filed by Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi against Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg.

The Commissioners had written to Cabinet Secretary T. V. Somanathan in July 2026, alleging that Garg issued work allocation orders among senior officers without consulting the Commission or obtaining its approval. The complaints suggested these actions violated the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, and risked centralizing powers related to electoral rolls.

The Cabinet Secretariat concluded that because the letters were sent by the Commissioners in their “individual capacity” rather than as an official communication from the Election Commission as a whole, intervening could be construed as executive interference in a constitutional body. While an initial note suggested seeking the Chief Election Commissioner's opinion, the Secretariat ultimately determined that Garg's conduct is governed by Election Commission rules.