Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi | Disagreement in the electoral commission

When the notices started being issued after the draft list was released during the Delhi SIR (Special Intensive Review), one of the names was that of Election Commissioner (EC) Sukhbir Singh Sandhu. What was considered ironic in that day and time soon became a moment of reckoning for the electoral body as reports surfaced that Dr. Sandhu along with his fellow Election Commissioner Vivek Joshi have flagged many anomalies in the ongoing SIR process across the country in the last 10 months.

Although rumors of a rift within the Election Commission of India had been rife for months, the surprise was the formal dissenting notes written by two ECs, including one to a cabinet minister, as both were virtually hand-picked by the government under the new 2023 Act on the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.

The opposition Congress party filed written objections to the appointment of both at the selection committee meeting. When Dr. Sandhu appointed along with CEC Gyanesh Kumar on 14 March 2024, following the departure of EC Anup Chandra Pandey and the sudden resignation of EC Arun Goel, Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury gave a formal nod in the selection committee. Later, when Mr. Joshi was appointed on 17 February 2025 after Gyanesh Kumar was elevated to CEC, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi raised an objection in a committee meeting.

The two election commissioners reportedly flagged several key issues, including the centralization of voter lists. In May this year, Mr Joshi proposed an audit to confirm that “no one except the relevant statutory bodies has any authority to make any changes to the (voter) database”. In August, Dr Sandhu noted that state-level election officials reported that they did not have “proper and complete access” to the ERONet portal – the digital system through which voter lists are maintained. He further said that the IT director general “has no statutory authority to restrict the proper and full access and freedom of operation as given by law to statutory bodies”.

“Unauthorized and Illegal”

The two ECs also said that Form 6 – which new voters must fill in to register – has been changed to ask whether the applicant or his parents/grandparents “exist” in the electoral roll of the last SIR. As early as May, they warned that such a statutory form could not be changed without amending the 1960 voter registration rules, and Dr. In August, Sandhu called the change “unjustified and illegal” and demanded its immediate removal. He also asked who had mandated the West Bengal Commission to file appeals against voters who had already been shortlisted by judicial tribunals – with 38,000 appeals pending.

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They also flagged the Goa case, in which 97 voters found eligible by local election registration officers (EROs) after a Supreme Court-ordered hearing were omitted from the final list because the centrally-run software had no mechanism to record the ERO’s decision. The Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) has sought the return in writing eight times.

However, some experts, including former election commissioners, questioned why the two did not seek a meeting of the entire Commission and try to resolve the issues by majority vote.

Under the provisions of the Electoral Commission (Conditions of Service of Electoral Commissioners and Business Transactions) Act 1991, which was carried over into the 2023 Act, all decisions of the Electoral Commission must, as far as possible, be unanimous. However, if the ÚVK and the other election commissioners really differ in their opinion on the matter, a decision must be made according to the opinion of the majority, with each commissioner (including the ÚVK) having equal weight in the vote. The vote of the Central Committee has no special veto. Dr. Sandhu is a retired IAS officer of 1988 batch of Uttarakhand cadre. Born in 1963, he holds an MBBS from Government Medical College, Amritsar, an MA in History from Guru Nanak Dev University and a law degree. He was the Chief Secretary to the Government of Uttarakhand from July 2021 to January 2024, where he is credited with overseeing the idea of ​​implementing the Uniform Civil Code.

He was also Chairman, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development and Commissioner, Ludhiana Municipal Corporation – for which he was awarded the President’s Medal. He is also an expert on urban reforms and author of many works on municipal management. Dr. Sandhu also briefly served as Secretary, Lokpal of India, from 5 February to 14 March 2024, just before he was appointed as the Election Commissioner.

Vivek Joshi was born on 21 May 1966 in Uttar Pradesh. 1989 batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, Mechanical Engineer from IIT-Roorkee. He holds an MA in International Business from IIFT, New Delhi and an MA and PhD in International Economics from the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

He served as Financial Services Secretary and Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India. Earlier, he was the Member Secretary of the Fifth Haryana State Finance Commission.

An unexpected meeting

When he was appointed EC at the age of 58, he was among the younger members appointed to the panel and took voluntary retirement before joining the Electoral Commission, which was considered somewhat unusual.

He himself called the appointment “unexpected” and noted that it was meaningful for him personally as it briefly returned him to his home cadre (Haryana) before moving to the central body. Mr. Joshi also has family members in the bureaucracy. His brother, Vineet Joshi, a 1992 batch IAS officer, serves as the higher education secretary.

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His term of office runs until February 2031.

Given the order of seniority among the current commissioners, if Mr. Kumar steps down in January 2029 after retirement, then Mr. Joshi would be the senior most EC and could replace him as Dr. Sandhu retires in July 2028. However, if Mr. Kumar has to retire by July 2028, Dr. Sandhu the supreme supreme because he was appointed before Mr. Joshi.

Most importantly, the EC and CEC Appointments Act 2023 does not guarantee automatic succession by seniority. Instead, the Act provides a statutory framework for the appointment, tenure and conditions of service of CECs and ECs, replacing the earlier system governed largely by convention.

There is no clause in the Act that says the top EC automatically becomes the CEC when a vacancy occurs. Every appointment – ​​including the post of CEC – goes through the same new appointment process as opposed to the earlier tradition where the next Chief Electoral Commissioner succeeds the incumbent CEC.

Published – 27 Sep 2026 01:22 IST