Election rules tweaking: SC gives 3 more weeks to EC to respond to Jairam Ramesh’s PIL
The Supreme Court on Thursday granted three more weeks to the Election Commission to respond to petitions filed by Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh and others against the recent amendments to the Election Rules, 1961, that barred public access to CCTV footage.
A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, which had on January 15 asked the Centre and the Election Commission to respond to the petitions, gave additional time after Senior Advocate Maninder Singh sought three more weeks to file the reply on behalf of the poll panel. It posted the matter for further hearing in July.
Ramesh alleged that the “very cleverly” made amendments barred access to CCTV footage on the ground that it would reveal the identity of the voter.
As the government tweaked an election rule to prevent public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV cameras, webcasting footage and video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse, Ramesh challenged it before the top court, alleging that it eroded integrity of the electoral process.
On the recommendation of the Election Commission (EC), the Union Ministry of Law and Justice last month amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to restrict the type of “papers” or documents open to public inspection.
Rule 93 says that all “papers” related to elections shall be open to public inspection. However, instead of the expression “papers”, the amendment says “papers as specified in these rules”.
A Law Ministry notification changed Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Earlier, the said Rule stated that “all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection”. However, it has now been changed to read: “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election shall be open to public inspection”.
Earlier, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had directed the EC to provide copies of documents related to the Haryana Assembly elections to an advocate who had filed a petition seeking the videography, CCTV camera footage, and copies of Forms 17-C Parts I and II related to the conduct of elections.
“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,” Ramesh had said.
“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 had written on X.
India