Election Commission Restores IT Chief Oversight After Internal Dispute

Restoration of IT Oversight

New Delhi – Following concerns raised by two election commissioners regarding a division of responsibilities, the Election Commission of India (ECI) issued a new directive on Wednesday, three months after the matter was brought to the attention of Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan. This new order reinstates the oversight level of its Director General (IT), Seema Khanna, which had been removed on July 28.

Under the revised order, Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (DEC) Pawan Kumar Sharma has been assigned the responsibility of the IT and ICT departments, meaning that Seema Khanna must now route her files through him. The order specifies that she will present files related to these functional divisions exclusively through the Senior DEC (PKS).

This action effectively reverses the July 28 division of responsibilities, which had transferred IT and ICT oversight from then-DEC Sanjay Kumar to Seema Khanna. The previous order suggested that she would report directly to the commission rather than to any DEC.

The controversy began when, following the July 28 order, Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi wrote to Cabinet Secretary Somanathan on July 29, stating that Senior DEC Manish Garg had issued the order without the commission's approval.

Although no formal amendment had been made to the division of responsibilities, the Election Commission stated that the order was never implemented due to the concerns raised by both election commissioners. Consequently, Seema Khanna continued to send files through Garg, who took over as the link officer for IT after Sanjay Kumar left the commission in August.

On Thursday, a source within the commission indicated that the new division of responsibilities aligns with a consensus decision made by the commission. There has been no change in the reporting structure for DEC (IT), which has always reported to a DEC-level officer.

Previously, when a media report on September 23 revealed that both election commissioners had written to the Cabinet Secretary and petitions had been filed in the Supreme Court regarding the commission's operations, the Election Commission informed the court on October 26 that the July 28 order was issued by Garg, an officer of additional secretary rank. The commission's response affidavit stated that the July 28 order was never implemented in light of the joint directive from the two election commissioners dated July 30, 2026.