RTI does not cover the ballot box: HC

The court was hearing an appeal filed by the Election Commission against a verdict from the Central Information Commission (CIC),which had said that information contained in the Electronic Voting Machines or EVM is liable for disclosure under the Right to Information Act.

The poll body said in its appeal that confidentiality of voters deserved to be protected at any cost and it would be very easy to find out the voting pattern if such information was to be made public.

It told the court: “We are under law precluded from having access to the information. We have custody of the machines but we do not have custody of the information contained in the machine.”

The Election Commission,therefore,expressed its inability to disclose information. The court observed: “Once EVMs are sealed,it is no longer open even to the Election Commission to de-seal them and re-examine the data stored in the control unit except under pre-conditions.”