Centre amends rule to restrict access to poll documents

The Centre has amended the Conduct of Election Rules to restrict access for the public to a section of poll documents. 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 of the Conduct of Election Rules, to a petitioner named Mahmoud Pracha. Modi government amends Rule 93 of Conduct of Elections Rules to restrict people’s right to access election related records after High Court orders disclosure! 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. 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.