The Supreme Court of India on Wednesday sought response from the Government of India and the Election Commission (EC) on a petition challenging recent amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, by which the rights of citizens to access election-related records were curtailed.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar directed the Centre and EC to file reply by the week commencing on March 17 on a petition moved by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Representing the Congress leader, Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi questioned the reasoning behind the amendment. He submitted that one of the reasons given in the press was that the Commission had have taken away the CCTV cameras and videos because they revealed the identity of voters.
As per the petition, the Union of India amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to limit public access to certain electronic documents with the purported aim of preventing the misuse of electronic election records.
This included CCTV camera and webcast footage as well as video recordings of candidates, during the election process.
The decision taken by the Union Law Ministry followed a recommendation made by the ECI.
The amendments were made a few days after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the EC to supply videography, CCTV footage and copies of documents related to votes polled in a polling station during the recent Haryana Assembly elections to Advocate Mehmood Pracha.
The petition filed by Ramesh contended that the EC, being a Constitutional body, was charged with the conduct of free and fair elections. It could not be allowed to unilaterally suggest amendment to such a vital law in such a brazen manner without public consultation.
The petitioner alleged that the amendment did away with public access to essential information, which were responsible for making the electoral process more transparent and accountable.