Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, on Tuesday, disclosed that his party has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the recently affected amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules.

Ramesh, who is the Congress general secretary in charge of Communications, wrote in a post on X, “A writ has just been filed in the SC challenging the recent amendments to the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.

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Cornering the Election Commission (EC) over the matter, he said, “The EC, a Constitutional body, charged with the conduct of free and fair elections cannot be allowed to unilaterally, and without public consultation, amend such a vital law in such a brazen manner. This is especially true when that amendment does away with public access to essential information that makes the electoral process more transparent and accountable.”

Claiming that the integrity of the electoral process is fast eroding, Ramesh expressed the hope that the apex court would help restore it.

Earlier, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge slammed the government for effecting the amendment to the election calling it a “systematic conspiracy” by the ruling dispensation to destroy the institutional integrity of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“Modi government’s audacious amendment in the Conduct of Election Rules is another assault in its systematic conspiracy to destroy the institutional integrity of the ECI. Earlier, they had removed the Chief Justice of India from the Selection panel which appoints Election Commissioners, and now they have resorted to stonewall
electoral information, even after a High Court order,” he said.

It may be mentioned here that the EC, on Saturday, categorically denied the allegation saying for the candidates, who already have access to all the documents, nothing has been amended in the rules in this regard.

An official of the poll panel recently said Punjab and Haryana High Court, in a case – Mahmoud Pracha vs ECI – had directed sharing of all documents and papers related to the Haryana Assembly elections, including treating CCTV footage as permissible under Rule 93(2) of the Conduct of Election Rules.

Stating that the rule refers to election papers, the official said, “The election papers and documents do not specifically refer to electronic records.”

“In order to remove this ambiguity and considering the serious issue of violation of secrecy of vote and potential misuse of CCTV footage of inside the polling station using artificial intelligence by a single person, the rule has been amended to safeguard misuse of CCTV footage of inside of the polling station,” the official said.