The Delhi High Court on Monday stayed an order of the Central Information Commission (CIC) which said that electronic voting machines (EVMs) fall within the definition of “information” under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
Justice V.K. Rao gave the order on a petition filed by the Election Commission (EC), challenging CIC’s February 12 order holding that the EVM, which is available with the EC in a material form and also as samples, is an information under the RTI Act.
CIC’s response sought
The High Court also sought response of the CIC and an applicant, who had sought access to an EVM maintained by the EC under the RTI Act, on the plea.
The poll panel said that EVM does not fall under the scope of the RTI Act which is primarily concerned with documentary records and representative models.
“The EVMs maintained by the petitioner [EC] are utilised in the conduct of elections all over the country in accordance with law. Further, the petitioner also maintains a small number of EVMs for the purposes of training of election officials and use in awareness programmes under the strict supervision of the petitioner,” the plea said.
It was also submitted that the poll panel does not maintain any EVM in sample or model form.
It added that all EVMs are securely stored in accordance with the manual on EVMs issued by the EC and the Representation of People Act.
The CIC’s order had come on a plea by Razaak K. Haidar, a resident of Rajasthan, who had said that as per the RTI Act, the definitions of “information” and “record” also include “any model or any sample” held by a public authority.
