Poll rules tweaked to restrict default public access to docs

AN OFFICIAL SAID THAT CANDIDATES AND AGENTS WILL CONTINUE TO GET ALL STATUTORY PAPERS, AS REQUIRED UNDER THE LAW

- Aditi Agrawal

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.

Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India (ECI), the Union law ministry on Friday amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, to restrict the type of "papers" or documents open to public inspection. The earlier rule stated that "all other papers relating to the election shall be open to public inspection". This has now been restricted to "papers as specified in these rules".

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.