The EC Has Cited 'Malicious Narratives' to Ask Officers to Destroy CCTV, Other Footage in 45 Days
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has directed state election officers to destroy CCTV, webcasting and video footage of the election process after 45 days, if the verdict is not challenged in courts within that period, in a bid to curb what it says are 'malicious narratives' using its electronic data.
The poll body issued the instructions in a letter to state chief electoral officers on May 30, reported Press Trust of India.
In the letter, the EC said it has issued instructions for recording various stages of the election process through multiple recording devices – photography, videography, CCTV, and webcasting during the election process. But added that such footage will only be preserved for 45 days, which is the duration within which an election petition (challenging a poll verdict) can be filed in court.
"However, the recent misuse of this content by non-contestants for spreading misinformation and malicious narratives on social media by selective and out-of-context use of such content, which will not lead to any legal outcome, has prompted a review," the letter said.
"If no election petition is filed in respect of a particular constituency, then the said data may be destroyed," the letter added.
the Union government had amended Rule 93(2)(a) of the 1961 Conduct of Election Rules. As per the new rules, not all election-related documents would be available for inspection by the public. In February, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Union government and the ECI in response to a plea filed against the changes made to the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961. The plea filed by transparency activist Anjali Bhardwaj, said that the amendments place unreasonable restrictions on the fundamental right to information of voters. The matter now remains in the Supreme Court.
In January 2024, the Chandigarh mayoral polls saw the presiding officer caught on CCTV cameras rigging the elections. The Supreme Court in February last year overturned the results of the mayoral polls – which had been fraudulently decided in favour of the BJP candidate – and declared the AAP-Congress joint candidate Kuldeep Kumar the validly elected city mayor. Later three Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) councillors who had jumped ship helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) win elections to posts of senior deputy mayor and deputy mayor in March.
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