The Supreme Court has sought a response from the Election Commission in the matter of the Election Commission's ban on public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcast footage, and video recordings of candidates. The court has issued a notice to the Central Government and the Election Commission on the petition of Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and sought a response.
Abhishek Manu Singhvi, arguing on behalf of Jairam before a bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar, said that the Election Conduct Rules 1961 have been cleverly amended to ban CCTV footage from public access saying that it can reveal the identity of the voter.
What did Singhvi say in the Supreme Court?
After the notice was issued, Singhvi told the bench that the Center and the Election Commission should be directed to file a reply by the next date, otherwise on the next date they will say that the reply will be filed. However, the CJI said that he would file the reply.
The Centre has banned public inspection of CCTV footage
The Central Government, on the recommendation of the Election Commission, amended the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 in December last year and banned public inspection of certain electronic documents such as CCTV camera footage, webcast footage, and video recordings of candidates to prevent their misuse.
The Law Ministry has amended this rule.
Based on the recommendation of the Election Commission, the Union Law Ministry has amended Rule 93 (2) (a) of the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 to ban papers or documents kept for public inspection.
What does the rule say?
Rule 93 says that all documents related to the election will be kept for public inspection but now it has been changed. However, even after the amendment in the rules, these documents will be available to the candidates.
What did Jairam Ramesh write in the post on 'X'?
Jairam Ramesh, while informing about challenging the amendments by filing a petition in the Supreme Court, had recently written in a post on 'X' that the Election Commission is a constitutional institution that has the responsibility of conducting free and fair elections, it cannot be allowed to unilaterally amend such an important law without public consultation.
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