EC enhances scrutiny for two top poll officials amid row over internal dissent charges
November 4 order assigns supervisor for Director General of IT Seema Khanna, while deploying another officer to share responsibilities of Senior DEC, Maneesh Garg, who issued an order commissioners flagged
Stung by a raging row over alleged internal dissent on its functioning, the Election Commission (EC) has made changes to the profiles of two officials central to the controversy – assigning a supervisor for a senior official handling the IT systems and deploying another officer to share the responsibilities of a senior deputy election commissioner.
The order issued on November 4 comes three months after the two election commissioners, Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu, registered their objection to a controversial July 28 order issued by EC, in a letter to the cabinet secretary.
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After the internal dissent became public knowledge through an Indian Express report, sparking a massive controversy, the EC told the Supreme Court that the July 28 order was never implemented because the changes were recalled in a July 30 order.
Extra layer of monitoring for IT chief
According to Hindustan Times, the November 4 order says the Director General of IT Seema Khanna will be supervised by Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. Describing her responsibilities as IT/ITC and grievance/public grievance redressal system, the order says, “she would put up files of above mentioned functional divisions through Sr DEC(PKS).”
Seema Khanna’s role faces scrutiny due to the allegations that the EC centralised the digital voter roll infrastructure and implemented restrictions on software which prevented state election officials from accessing voter lists.
Shared responsibilities for DEC
Meanwhile, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner, Maneesh Garg, who issued the controversial July 28 order, and handles election planning, will be assisted by Deputy Election Commissioner Prakash Rajpurohit, who is also in charge of delimitation, says the new order.
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Besides election planning, Garg retains his responsibilities pertaining to EVMs, and Election Database Management Division, along with East-I (Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh) and North-III (Uttar Pradesh).
The new order also entrusts Pawan Kumar Sharma with responsibilities of political parties, election expenditure policy, the observer division and coordination. He also supervises the North East-II, East-II and South-II zones. Khanna is supposed to put up files of her divisions through him.
Why is the order significant?
The order is significant as the election commissioners, Joshi and Sandhu, along with their almost-identical letters to Cabinet Secretary TV Somanathan on July 29, had also enclosed a copy of the order issued by Garg on July 28 allocating work to himself and other EC officials, including Seema Khanna and Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar.
While files of the IT department were earlier routed through Sanjay Kumar, the commissioners in their letter had flagged Garg’s decision to change the pattern.
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The commissioners said in the July 28 order, Garg gave himself additional charge of the Administration Division while Deputy Election Commissioner Bhanu Prakash Yetru was on leave till August 9. The letters alleged that within hours, Garg issued a work-allocation order covering officers senior and equivalent to him without consulting both the election commissioners. Joshi also alleged that a file he sought from the Administration Division was also not given to him.