New Delhi: Despite the 30-day statutory time limit passing, the Election Commission of India (ECI) is yet to respond to a Right to Information (RTI) query seeking details and copies of the dissent and disagreements of the two Election Commissioners Vivek Joshi and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu that had been first reported by the Indian Express last month.The Election Commission’s silence comes amid nationwide protest calls for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation, following the revelations in the Indian Express report that had revealed that the two Election Commissioners had objected on record, 14 times in 10 months to the conduct of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.A RTI query filed by transparency activist Commodore Lokesh Batra (Retd.) sought copies of the on-file dissent and disagreements of the two Election Commissioners. In his query, Batra sought not only the copies of their recorded objections but also the steps taken by the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) to mitigate the issues/ grievances (dissenting /disagreement documents) raised by the two.He also sought all records of the issues raised by them as well as the file notings of how they were processed. On October 26, when the 30-day time limit for a RTI reply lapsed, Batra again wrote to the Election Commission and sought that his query be expedited.While the 30-day time limit has passed, the RTI query is yet to receive a response. Batra has questioned the Election Commission’s silence and asked what is the poll body “hiding”.Also read: Gyanesh Kumar’s Forced Confession: Inside ECI’s Illegal War on the Indian FranchiseWhile the three members of the Election Commission are meant to work through a majority failing unanimous decision-making, a point reinforced by the cabinet secretariat in file notings made available via RTI, the Indian Express had reported that the two election commissioners had objected 14 times in ten months to the conduct of the SIR, including in records and on file notings, that decisions were taken without their knowledge.Sandhu and Joshi had raised objections including questioning 16.1 lakh appeals filed against voters in West Bengal who were included by judicial officers; the “gradual centralisation of the electoral roll database” through ECINET, “illegal” changes to Form 6 online; as well as communications sent in the name of the Election Commission without their approval. The two election commissioners had also written to the Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan.A separate RTI filed by Batra on the letters to the Cabinet Secretary revealed that instead of taking action on the letters of the two Election Commissioners, the Cabinet Secretariat forwarded their letters to the Chief Election Commissioner’s office.The letters, the RTI revealed, refer to Senior Deputy Election Commissioner (Sr DEC) Maneesh Garg, who was given additional charge over the Administration Division while Bhanu Prakash Yeturu was on leave from July 27 to August 9.Their letters note that “within a few hours of assuming charge” as the link officer DEC (Administration), Garg issued an order regarding work allocation among Sr DECs, DECs and equivalent officers without “discussing or informing” the two Election Commissioners or the Election Commission.For our full coverage on the SIR and the issues it has brought to citizens, click here.