Weeks after the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to produce documents related to the recent Haryana Assembly elections, the Union government has amended the Conduct of Election Rules, restricting public access to election-related documents. The Ministry of Law and Justice notified the change on December 20, specifying that only documents explicitly mentioned in the rules can be inspected.
Previously, Rule 93(2)(a) allowed public inspection of “all other papers relating to the election.” The amended rule now limits this to “all other papers as specified in these rules relating to the election.”
The move follows the December 9 directive from the Punjab and Haryana HC, which ordered the ECI to submit all documents related to the Haryana polls after a petition was filed by advocate Mehmood Pracha, seeking details related to votes polled at a polling station. The documents sought included videography, security footage, and records of Form 17C—the document used to record the total votes polled, details of the Electronic Voting Machines or EVMs, and the certification of the vote-counting process.
While the ECI contended that Pracha was neither a resident of Haryana nor a contestant in the election, Pracha argued that according to the law, the documents should be supplied to anyone who requests them, subject to payment of the fee. ECI officials later said that an amendment was necessary in election rules to address a surge in requests for election-related documents, including CCTV footage. The latest notification from the Union government was issued in consultation with the ECI.
The amendment has drawn criticism from opposition leaders and activists, who argue it curtails transparency. Advocate Mehmood Pracha accused the government of undermining democracy, stating that “unfair methods” were being used to suppress Ambedkarite voices.
Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Jairam Ramesh called the amendment a blow to transparency, alleging it vindicated concerns about the declining integrity of the electoral process. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal suggested the rule change indicated wrongdoing, while former Trinamool Congress MP Jawhar Sircar questioned what the government was trying to hide.
Activist Anjali Bhardwaj also slammed the decision, describing it as a huge setback to the transparency movement. “Modi govt amends Rule 93(2) of Conduct of Elections Rules to restrict people’s right to access election related records after Court orders disclosure! Applications we filed under Rule 93(2) in May 2024 for copies of Form 17C still pending (sic),” she said.