The Cabinet Secretariat forwarded the letters written to the Cabinet Secretary by election commissioners Sukhbir Sandhu and Vivek Joshi about the alleged misconduct of senior deputy election commissioner (DEC) Maneesh Garg to the office of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar , in addition to sending them to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), according to information obtained through a Right to Information (RTI) application.
A document released in response to the application shows that on August 3, the secretariat proposed asking CEC Kumar for his opinion on the letters. Another, on August 4, noted that the letters from the commissioners were in their individual capacity and not a formal communication from the Election Commission of India . The acknowledgements dated August 5 were copied to the secretary, department of personnel and training (DoPT), the establishment officer in DoPT, and the principal private secretary to the chief election commissioner. Hindustan Times first reported on October 3, the details of the letters and the fact that they had been forwarded to DoPT , but the RTI reply shows that the CEC was also sent a copy.
The Express investigation also reported that there were differences between the election commissioners , and that Joshi and Sandhu had disagreed several times with CEC Kumar. Because they had not been written by the Election Commission, but the two commissioners in their individual capacity, hT also reported that the Cabinet Secretary did not act on the letters. Because khanna and the IT department are at the heart of a controversy after an investigation by the Indian Express said that the new IT protocol/system put in place by Khanna and approved by the Election Commission, shut the database of electors (the rolls) from the very people responsible for adding or deleting names, Electoral Registration Officials (EROs ), the letters, and the response, are significant.
The only response to the two commissioners was an acknowledgement that their letters had been received.
The Election Commission has denied this and said that all decisions were either unanimous or taken by a majority in keeping with the rules.
