3 months after internal row, Election Commission restores oversight of top IT officer

The Election Commission’s fresh work allocation order changed how its information technology division reports internally. It assigned Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma charge of IT and ICT. Director General (IT) Seema Khanna must route files through him. This restores an oversight layer that the July 28 order had removed.

The July 28 order had placed IT and ICT under Khanna and indicated that she would report directly to the Commission. Under the new arrangement, she must put files from the relevant functional divisions through Sharma. This makes the reporting chain run through a senior deputy commissioner again.

The change came three months after two Election Commissioners raised concerns about the earlier order. The Commission says the July 28 order was never implemented, despite remaining formally unchanged until now. It says Khanna continued sending files through Senior DEC Maneesh Garg, who served as the link officer after Sanjay Kumar left in August.

A work allocation order is an internal administrative instruction that assigns work and sets the reporting path for officials. It can identify which divisions an officer controls and which senior officer must review or receive that officer’s files. That makes the order important for accountability and decision-making inside the Election Commission.

In this case, the reporting route changed twice. The July 28 order placed IT and ICT under Director General Seema Khanna and indicated that she would report directly to the Commission. The new order assigns IT and ICT to Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. Khanna must now put up files through him.

The Commission says the July 28 order was never implemented. It says Khanna continued routing files through Senior DEC Maneesh Garg, who acted as the link officer after Sanjay Kumar left in August. The fresh order formally restores the Deputy Election Commissioner’s oversight layer.

Two Election Commissioners objected to the July 28 work allocation order. They were Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi. Their action mattered because the order changed oversight of the Election Commission’s IT and ICT functions, placing them under Director General Seema Khanna instead of a Deputy Election Commissioner.

The timing was immediate. The order was issued on July 28, and the two Election Commissioners wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan on July 29. That means they raised the matter the next day. They said Senior DEC Maneesh Garg had issued the order without the Commission’s approval.

The dispute remained unresolved formally for about three months, because the July 28 order was not amended until the fresh order described in the article. The Commission later said the earlier order had never been implemented. It said a joint direction by the two Election Commissioners on July 30 prevented its implementation.

The restored reporting arrangement changes the path followed by files handled by Director General (IT) Seema Khanna. Instead of sending them directly to the Commission, Khanna must route files from the specified functional divisions through Senior Deputy Election Commissioner Pawan Kumar Sharma. The order gives Sharma charge of IT and ICT.

The key mechanism is written into the order: Khanna “would put up files” through Senior DEC Pawan Kumar Sharma. This creates an intermediate review and reporting layer. It also places responsibility for the IT and ICT functions with a senior deputy commissioner rather than leaving Khanna to report directly to the Commission.

The Commission says this arrangement reflects its unanimous decision. It also says there is no change in Khanna’s reporting structure because she has always reported to a DEC-level officer. In practice, the Commission says she had continued routing files through Maneesh Garg even after the July 28 order.

The July 28 order created an internal dispute because it altered the established reporting chain for the Election Commission’s IT and ICT functions. It removed those functions from the charge of then Deputy Election Commissioner Sanjay Kumar and placed them under Director General Seema Khanna. The order indicated that Khanna would report directly to the Commission.

Two Election Commissioners, Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, objected the next day. They wrote to Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan and said Senior DEC Maneesh Garg had issued the order without the Commission’s approval. Their concern focused on both the authority behind the order and the removal of the oversight layer.

The Commission later said the order was never implemented. It told the Supreme Court on October 26 that a joint direction dated July 30 by the two Election Commissioners prevented implementation. It also said Khanna continued routing files through Garg, the link officer after Kumar left in August.

The Director General (IT) is the official responsible for the Election Commission’s information technology-related work. In this episode, that official is Seema Khanna. Her role includes putting up files from the relevant functional divisions. The files must follow the reporting route set by the Commission’s work allocation order.

A Deputy Election Commissioner acts as the senior officer through whom those files are routed. Under the fresh order, Senior DEC Pawan Kumar Sharma has charge of IT and ICT, so Khanna must send the files through him. Before that, Maneesh Garg served as the link officer after Sanjay Kumar left in August.

The Election Commissioners are members of the Commission that decides the allocation structure. Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi raised concerns about the July 28 order and directed attention to its approval. The Commission later described the fresh allocation as its unanimous decision and said Khanna has always reported to a DEC-level officer.

Independent oversight of election technology matters because IT and ICT systems support the administration of elections. Review by a senior officer can create accountability for technical decisions, records, and files. It can also reduce the risk that sensitive work is handled without a clear reporting chain. The article does not detail specific systems, but the reporting dispute shows why structure matters.

The concrete issue was whether Director General (IT) Seema Khanna would report directly to the Commission or through a Deputy Election Commissioner. The July 28 order indicated direct reporting. The fresh order assigns Senior DEC Pawan Kumar Sharma charge of IT and ICT and requires Khanna to route files through him.

This restored layer may make responsibility easier to trace inside the Commission. The Commission says the July 28 order was never implemented and that Khanna continued reporting through Maneesh Garg. Its latest order formally records the arrangement it says reflects a unanimous decision.