The following correspondence I have had with the Election Commission of India (ECI) under the provisions of the RTI Act shows how casual the ECI has been towards dealing with applications under the RTI Act, how secretive it is about making a forthright public disclosure of the manner in which it had dealt with prima facie serious violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) committed by no other than BJP’s star campaigner in the 2024 elections, namely, Prime Minister Modi and an utter lack of transparency and public accountability in its functioning, raising concerns about its effectiveness and impartiality as a Constitutional authority under Article 324.
On the face of it, ECI’s reply indicates that the MCC violations committed by Prime Minister Modi were far too many for it to be able to compile all the relevant information, including information on the action taken by it (or not taken by it), raising more questions than providing straight answers.
Elsewhere, the same Election Commission (https://scroll.in/article/1068728/cec-on-modis-anti-muslim-speeches-we-decided-not-to-touch-top-two-leaders-of-bjp-and-congress) unabashedly admitted that “the Election Commission had deliberated over poll code violations during the 2024 general elections at length and had decided to not admonish two top leaders each from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress – Narendra Modi and Amit Shah of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Indian National Congress…..We deliberately decided – this is such a huge nation – that the top two people in both the parties we did not touch. Both party presidents we touched equally”.
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It shows how brazen the Commission had been in not taking action against the MCC violations by the Prime Minister and others, either on account of its defiance of the rule of law, or out of outright fear of the executive.
I leave it for the people to judge the manner in which the Commission had conducted the 2024 elections and whether an institution that failed to act firmly against those in authority could discharge its functions as the custodian of free and fair elections.
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
18th June 2024
Application under the RTI Act dated 24-4-2024 under RTI Act
E A S Sarma
14-40-4/1 gokhale Road
Maharanipeta
Visakhapatnam 530002 (AP)
To
Central Public information Officer
Election Commission of India
Sir,
- Has the Commission received complaints of Prime Minister Modi having committed Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations and how many such violations involved religion being invoked in his election speeches? Details of action taken
- How many such complaints were received with reference to his speeches in Tamil Nadu, Assam, Rajasthan and UP (Aligarh)? How many were investigated, how many acted upon, how many rejected? Provide me written orders pased if any. If rejected, provide me reasons, if any
- Has the Commission ordered action under Representation of the People Act with special reference to Section 123 and under the IPC and its successor legislation? Provide me details. If not, reasons for the same
Provide me the information in 48 hours through email in view of its importance for the integrity of the electoral process and the larger societal implications
Enclosed is an IPO ( No. 46F 015907) for Rs 10/ towards the prescribed fee.
Thanking you
E A S Sarma
Visakhapatnam
24-4-2024
Election Commission’s reply under the RTI Act dated 14-6-2024
