New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday (February 3) issued a notice to the Union government and the Election Commission of India (ECI) in response to a plea filed against the changes made to the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.
In December 2024, the Union government had amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules. As per the new rules, not all election-related documents would be available for inspection by the public.
The plea, filed by transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj, said that the amendments place unreasonable restrictions on the fundamental right to information of voters.
The matter was heard by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.
“The amendment seeks to restrict access to only those records as specified in the rules, thereby attempting to keep out of the purview of disclosure all other records which are not specified in the rules,” the plea said. The amendment prevents the public inspection of electronic documents, including CCTV footage, webcasting recordings, video footage of candidates and other material generated as part of the election process.
“These contain crucial information including, for instance, the number of votes cast in every two-hour interval, number of voters present at the polling station at the closing hour who were allowed to cast their votes, details of any interruption or obstruction of voting etc,” the petition said.
There was no restriction on accessing these records prior to the amendments made in December.
“Such information is crucial for public access as a facet of the fundamental right to information of people as guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution and upheld by this Hon’ble Court in a plethora of judgments including specifically in matters pertaining to conduct of elections in the country,” the petition said.
The petition also sought directions to the ECI to furnish copies of documents sought by the petitioner related to the Lok Sabha elections 2024 including copies of Form 17C Part I for constituencies in Delhi.
The matter is now listed for Mar 17, 2025.