Election Commission turns down RTI query on Model Code violations

The Election Commission of India (EC) has rejected an RTI query seeking details of violations of the model code of conduct by politicians, saying neither is there any policy on this nor anything mentioned in the law concerning code violation.

Activist Anil Galgali had in an RTI filed on April 7 sought details of cases registered against candidates for violation of the code of conduct in the past three Lok Sabha elections.

He also sought to know the period within mandatory action must be taken against the violators and the minimum and maximum action prescribed for the violations.

Galgali said the EC stated that there was no policy formulated and nothing was mentioned in the provisions of the law with regard to violations of the model code of conduct.

The EC also stated in its reply that there was no compilation of information on record in this regard, and therefore this would put unnecessary burden on its resources. Consequently, the EC rejected the request for information under section 7(9) of the RTI Act, 2005.

The EC also mentioned that there was no time limit within which such cases were to be finalized and action was taken on the basis of priority as prescribed in the procedure.

Galgali said, "There should be a time limit to clear these cases and a policy needs to be formulated to change the image of the EC, which is now seen as a toothless tiger. Once a policy is formulated and a law enacted for taking action, candidates will also take cognizance of the law."