February 24,2019:
Central Information Commission (CIC) stated that,"An Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) is “information” under the Right to Information Act".
Commission was hearing Appeal of an RTI applicant who had asked Election Commission for an EVM but was denied.
Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) Sudhir Bhargava expounded that,“EVM which is available with the respondent [ECI] in a material form and also as samples … is an information under the RTI Act.”
EVMs have been in spotlight recently as several Opposition leaders have raised doubts about credibility of the machines.
They have also demanded that ECI cross-check 50% of results with the Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPAT) in upcoming Lok Sabha poll.
Mr. Bhargava noted that definition of information under Section 2(f) of RTI Act includes “any material in any form, including records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic form…”.
CIC upheld applicant Razaak K. Haidar’s contention that terms “models” and “samples” should apply to an EVM.
Source Indian Express
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