Cabinet Secretariat warns of possible interference after letters from two election commissioners

In response to an RTI filed by activist Commodore Lokesh Batra, the cabinet secretary made public internal notings and two letters authored by election commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. The secretariat emphasized that these correspondences are personal to the commissioners and do not constitute an official position of the Election Commission. The letters addressed allegations that Deputy Election Commissioner Maneesh Garg issued a work-allocation directive without consulting the Election Commission of India, despite repeated instructions against such actions.

The commissioners highlighted that the order was given after Garg assumed the role of link officer for DEC (Administration). The cabinet secretary also reminded that Garg, though appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, is now subject to ECI's rules and oversight.