EC restores Senior Deputy Election Commissioner's oversight of IT department: Report
The fresh work allocation order requires Director General (IT) Seema Khanna to route files through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma
The Election Commission has reportedly issued a fresh work allocation order, restoring the oversight of Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma over its IT and ICT divisions. As per the order Director General (IT) Seema Khanna has to route files through Sharma. This reverses the arrangement introduced on July 28 amid objections from two Election Commissioners.
Pawan Kumar Sharma gets charge of IT, ICT divisions
Under the latest order, Sharma has been assigned charge of IT/ICT, placing Khanna's files under his supervision. “She would put up files of above-mentioned functional divisions through Sr. DEC(PKS),” the order stated, reported the Indian Express.
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The July 28 order had removed IT and ICT from the charge of then Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar and placed the divisions directly under Khanna. This meant she would have reported to the Commission without routing files through a DEC.
Two Election Commissioners had objected to July order
The report further stated that the change prompted Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi to write to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan on July 29. They objected that Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg had issued the order without the Commission's approval.
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The EC, however, stated that the July 28 arrangement was never implemented after the two commissioners objected to it. Khanna continued to route files through Garg, who took charge of IT as the link officer after Sanjay Kumar left the Commission in August, stated the report.
“The work allocation order is as per unanimous decision of the Commission. There is no change in the reporting structure of DG IT. She has always been reporting to a DEC level officer,” stated the report quoting an EC source said on Thursday (November 5).
What EC said in EC
The issue came under further scrutiny after The Indian Express reported on September 23 that the two commissioners had approached the Cabinet Secretary. Petitions were also filed in the Supreme Court over the functioning of the Commission.
The EC told the Supreme Court on October 28 that the July 28 order had been issued by Garg, an officer of Additional Secretary rank.
“In view of the joint direction dated 30 July 2026 by the two Election Commissioners, the order of 28 July 2026 was never implemented,” the poll panel stated in its counter affidavit.