NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission in response to a petition by senior Congress functionary
Jairam Ramesh
challenging the validity of the recent amendment made to the
Conduct of Election Rules
that curtails public access to certain election records, including
CCTV footage
inside polling booths.
Agreeing to examine the issue and bringing the amendment under its scanner, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar sought response from the govt as well as the poll panel.
Challenging the amendment that restricts citizens’ right to access information, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Congress neta, questioned the justification given by the EC to change the law.
“One of the reasons given in the press is: ‘we have taken away CCTV, video because the identity of the voter would be revealed’,” Singhvi said. The rules were changed “cleverly”, he added.
The SC bench also raised the question whether disclosing information booth wise would not reveal the voting pattern. Responding to the query, Singhvi and senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who was also present, said Form 17C, which records voter turnout in every polling station of a constituency, is also shared with political parties. Sibal said that he also contested elections and had personal experience of getting information under Form 17C.
After a brief hearing, the SC issued notice and posted the case for hearing to week commencing March 17.
Ramesh, in his petition said, “Every citizen has the fundamental right to know and receive information under Article 19 (1) (a) of Constitution. The information related to the integrity of
Read More