Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 22 : Congress leader KC Venugopal has slammed the Union Government's recent amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules, citing a disturbing trend of opacity in the Election Commission and electoral process.
Venugopal pointed out that despite a High Court order to provide sufficient documents, the Election Commission disobeyed and instead amended the rules, sparking concerns about the integrity of the electoral process
Speaking to ANI, Venugopal pointed out that this is "clear evidence" that the government is sabotaging the election process.
"After the Haryana assembly elections, we asked for the final voter list from the election commission of India. It is mandatory to give but they did not give us...After that, we went to the high court and the high court ordered them to provide sufficient documents to the parties. Immediately after that instead of obeying the HC order, they amended the rules. Something is happening in the election commission and electoral process," he said.
"What is the reason they removed the Chief Justice of India from the panel to choose the Chief Election Commissioner?... These are very clear evidence that they are sabotaging the election process and hijacking the electoral voter list which we are going to fight legally," Venugopal added.
This came in the wake of a recent Punjab and Haryana High Court directive in the Mahmoud Pracha vs ECI case, where the court ordered the sharing of all documents related to the Haryana Assembly elections, including CCTV footage under Rule 93(2) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
The amendment by the Centre now restricts public scrutiny of certain electronic documents, including CCTV footage, based on a recommendation from the ECI. The Union Law Ministry recently amended Rule 93(2) to specify which documents are open to public inspection.
However, a senior ECI official clarified to ANI that the candidate already has access to all the documents and papers, and no amendments have been made to the rules in this regard.
The ECI official noted that while the rule refers to "election papers," it does not explicitly address electronic records. The ambiguity in the rule and concerns over potential misuse of CCTV footage inside polling stations, especially with advancements in artificial intelligence, prompted an amendment to safeguard voter secrecy and prevent its misuse.
The official emphasized that sharing CCTV footage inside the polling stations from sensitive areas such as Jammu and Kashmir or Naxal-affected regions could compromise voter safety. "Lives of voters may be at risk, and the secrecy of the vote must be protected," the official stated. All other election-related documents and papers remain accessible for public inspection.