Former IAS officer Sudhanshu Pandey, who retired as food secretary last year has been appointed as the first state election commissioner of the Union Territory (UT) of Ladakh after it became UT in 2019.
The oath for this constitutional post was administered by Lieutenant Governor Brigadier (retired) B D Mishra at the Raj Niwas.
Recently, Pandey, a 1987 batch IAS officer from Jammu and Kashmir cadre, had hit controversy after a woman alleged him to be father of her minor daughter.
Pandey has retired as union secretary for food and public distribution last year. After retirement, he was appointed as the common election commissioner for the Union territories of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep in November 2022.
As the food and public distribution secretary, the working of Pandey was quite appreciated for deft handling of crisis situation and effective food distribution during Corona.
He was the man behind the planning of free distribution of foodgrains in addition to the regular quota through ration shops for poor families.
The Challenge ahead
Pandey has his task cut out. His first challenge would be to conduct free and a fair panchayat elections in Ladakh – first after it became a UT. Lieutenant Governor Mishra discussed various issues including the preparations for the upcoming panchayat elections.
Srinagar woman sued Pandey for abandoning her and child
Earlier in April this year, Sudhanshu Pandey hit the headlines when a Srinagar woman sued him in a local court alleging him to be father of her daughter.
In her petition, she alleged that in 2010, when Pandey was holding the position of Finance Secretary in the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, he developed a relationship with a woman in Srinagar.
Later in May 2010, Pandey converted to Islam and married the woman. She pleaded that their daughter was born on April 12, 2011, out of their wedlock. However, Pandey left her and minor after he was transferred to Delhi on central deputation.
What Pandey responded?
Pandey, on the other hand, had denied all the allegations. He contended that allegations made in the petition are just a figment of the imagination and a device to malign his reputation and image, he responded in court.
“It is averred that in the civil suit, the mother of the petitioner has admitted that she had entered into wedlock with another person on August 1, 2010, which ended in divorce in October 2010,” Pandey responded in court. And that the minor was a child from the woman's first marriage.
Both parties presented conflicting birth certificates and medical records for the child, with two different names for the father.
Vivek Shukla is a management graduate who has worked in corporate worked for 20 years and is now pursuing his passion — news.
