Poll rules tweaked to restrict default public access to docs

The Union government has amended the Conduct of Election Rules,1961, to restrict default public access to certain election material such as CCTV camera footage. Poll rules tweaked to restrict default public access to docs Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India, the Union law ministry on Friday amended Rule 93 of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of “papers” or documents open to public inspection. According to experts and ECI officials, this means that all election papers that are not mentioned in the CoE Rules or specifically listed by ECI cannot be made available to the public without a court order, allowing district election officers and other public authorities to deny access under different laws, including the Right to Information Act. Invoking privacy concerns as an excuse to impose very broad limits on public inspection and weaken election integrity mechanisms is problematic,” Waghre said, as he decried “blanket denial of information against existing transparency measures”. “The amendment is an enabling provision and the ECI will soon release a list of papers that can be accessed via Rule 93,” the first official said.