Gyanesh Kumar's Dubious Career Till His Ascension To CEC Under Election Commissioners Act, 2023

New Delhi: India’s current Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar is the first CEC to be appointed under The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioner’s Acts, 2023.

The Election Commissioners Act, 2023 allowed the Prime Minister and a union minister nominated by the prime minister to pick the election chiefs. The 2023 Act removed the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel and replaced the judicial member with a Union Cabinet Minister.

Read Also: Kerala Home Minister Explains Reason For Vigilance Probe Against Gyanesh Kumar Over 2006 Case

The 1988 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, Gyanesh Kumar was picked by Home Minister Amit Shah as the Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation on May, 2022. He headed the Jammu and Kashmir division at the time of the controversial abrogation of Article 370.

While serving under the home ministry, Kumar was actively involved in the establishment of the Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth, the organisation overseeing the construction and management of the Ram Mandir at the site of the demolished Babri Masji.

Read Also: Kerala Govt Orders Probe Against CEC Gyanesh Kumar For Alleged Irregularities During His Tenure As State PWD Secretary

Following his retirement in 2024, Kumar was appointed as the Election Commissioner in March that year and subsequently assumed the charge of the 26th Chief Election Commissioner of India by February 2025.

Notably, during Kumar’s tenure in Kerala as Public Works Department Secretary in 2006, Malaysian project official Lee Been Seen, who headed the Kerala operations of PATI-BEL, a joint venture involved in the World Bank-assisted Kerala State Transport Project (KSTP), died by suicide in Kuala Lumpur after returning from Kerala. In his suicide note, Lee Been reportedly blamed the state government for delays in disbursing payments.

In a subsequent investigation, into the KSTP contracts and related dealings, report found alleged irregularities requiring investigation.  The controversy led to Kumar’s transfer from the PWD and to a state Vigilance inquiry, but the cited sources do not report a conviction or final finding holding him responsible for Lee’s death. Recently, Kerala government reopened the case and ordered a vigilance probe into the allegations involving Kumar.