CIC rebukes EC for ignoring RTI query on EVM credibility

The Central Information Commission (CIC) has voiced significant dissatisfaction with the Election Commission (EC) for not responding to a Right to Information (RTI) request. The request sought information on the measures taken regarding a formal complaint by prominent citizens questioning the reliability of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems used in elections.

The CIC has labelled the EC’s non-compliance as a serious breach of legal duty and has ordered the EC to provide a detailed written justification.

M G Devasahayam, a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and one of the individuals who questioned the integrity of EVMs, VVPATs, and the vote-counting process, had submitted an RTI application to the EC, inquiring about the follow-up actions taken on their complaint.

The original complaint was presented to the EC on May 2, 2022, and the subsequent RTI request was filed on November 22, 2022. Devasahayam sought to know the identities of the officials and authorities the complaint was shared with, any discussions that took place regarding the matter, and all pertinent documentation and notes.

After receiving no reply from the EC within the obligatory 30-day timeframe, and having his initial appeal ignored, Devasahayam escalated the issue to the CIC.

During the CIC hearing, Chief Information Commissioner Heeralal Samariya questioned the EC’s central public information officer, who was unable to provide a satisfactory explanation for the lack of communication with Devasahayam.

Samariya expressed the CIC’s strong disapproval of the previous public information officer’s failure to respond within the legally mandated period. He instructed the former officer, through the current one, to submit a written account explaining this significant oversight.

Furthermore, Samariya ordered that if other individuals were also implicated in the failure to respond, they must be given a copy of the CIC’s directive and submit their written explanations to the CIC.

Additionally, the CIC mandated the EC to deliver a detailed, point-by-point response to the RTI request within the next 30 days.

The initial complaint to the EC was backed by esteemed technical experts, academics, including IIT and IIM professors, and retired civil servants from the IAS, IPS, and IFS. They posed critical inquiries about the trustworthiness of EVMs and VVPAT machines.

In their memorandum dated May 2, 2022, the group of concerned citizens, comprising technical experts, academics, and former civil servants, urged the EC for prompt answers to their questions, emphasising the importance of these issues for the continuation of India as an electoral democracy.

The CIC has labelled the EC’s non-compliance as a serious breach of legal duty and has ordered the EC to provide a detailed written justification