Centre amends rule to restrict access to poll documents

Electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcasting footage and video recording of candidates during the Model Code of Conduct period are not covered in the Conduct of Election Rules

The Centre has amended the Conduct of Election Rules to restrict access for the public to a section of poll documents. This was brought into effect through a notification issued by the Ministry of Law and Justice on Friday following a recommendation by the Election Commission of India.

Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules had earlier stated that “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection”. After the amendment, now it reads, “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection.”

The move follows a recent direction to the ECI by the Punjab and Haryana High Court to share all documents related to Haryana Assembly elections, including treating CCTV footage also as permissible under Rule 93(2) of the Conduct of Election Rules, to a petitioner named Mahmoud Pracha.

According to a senior ECI official, “The rule mentioned election papers. The election papers and documents do not specifically refer to electronic records. In order to remove this ambiguity and considering the serious issue of violation of secrecy of vote and potential misuse of CCTV footage of inside of the polling station using artificial intelligence by a single person, the rule has been amended to prevent misuse of CCTV footage of inside of the polling station.”

He said, “Sharing of CCTV footage may have serious repercussions, especially in sensitive regions like Jammu and Kashmir, naxal- affected regions, etc., where secrecy is important. Lives of voters may also be at risk. All election papers and documents are otherwise available for public inspection.”

‘Setback for transparency’

“Candidates in any case have access to all documents, papers and records. Even Mr. Pracha was entitled for all the documents and records from his Constituency when he contested as a candidate in Lok Sabha Elections 2024,” the official said, adding that nothing has been amended in the rules in this regard.

However, RTI activists termed the move as a setback to transparency. “Huge setback for transparency! Modi government amends Rule 93(2) of Conduct of Elections Rules to restrict people’s right to access election related records after High Court orders disclosure! Applications we filed in May 2024 under Rule 93(2) for copies of Form 17C are still pending,” transparency activist Anjali Bharadwaj said.

Venkatesh Nayak, Director Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, told The Hindu, “Upon initial examination, the amendment appears to be aimed at restricting citizen-voters’ right to access a large number of documents created during Parliamentary and State Assembly elections, many of which are not specifically mentioned in the Conduct of Election Rules; instead, they are mentioned in the handbooks and manuals published by the Election Commission from time to time.”

Some of these records are reports submitted by Election Observers, scrutiny reports submitted by Returning Officers after polling and index cards sent to the ECI after declaration of results, which contain detailed statistics relating to the elections.

Mr. Nayak said that given the controversy over voter turnout in recent Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, access to the Presiding Officers’ diaries which contain detailed data of voter turnout at different points of time throughout the polling day and the number of tokens they distribute to voters who are in the queue at the hour scheduled for closing of polling are not mentioned specifically in the Conduct of Election Rules. “Yet access to such documents is crucial to assess the fairness of elections. The amendment seeks to prevent access to such documents and many other reports and returns that are filed by various election officials.”

Vindication of our assertions: Congress

Opposition Congress claimed that a change in the rules regarding conduct of elections is a vindication of their assertions of rapidly eroding integrity of the electoral process managed by the ECI.

“If there was ever a vindication of our assertions regarding the rapidly eroding integrity of the electoral process managed by the Election Commission of India in recent times, this is it. Sunlight is the best disinfectant, and information will restore faith in the process - a reasoning the Punjab and Haryana High Court agreed with when it directed the ECI to share all information that it is legally required to do so with the public,” Congress communication chief Jairam Ramesh said in a post on X.

“Yet the ECI, instead of complying with the judgment, rushes to amend the law to curtail the list of what can be shared. Why is the ECI so afraid of transparency? This move of the ECI will be challenged legally right away,” he added.

Published - December 21, 2024 04:48 pm IST