Mahua Moitra

ECI tells Supreme Court no legal mandate to publish Form 17C

In an affidavit, the Commission said the law requires Form 17C to be given only to candidates' agents under Rule 49S, so there is no legal mandate to publish it. It said posting it online could allow images to be morphed and cause public mistrust, and that changing procedure mid-election would breach Article 329(b). It called the claim of a 5-6% rise in turnout misleading and unsubstantiated.

The affidavit itself was not opened; other outlets describe it as 225 pages.

• TIER 3 · PRESSUploading of Form 17C on website to lead to mischief, discomfort and mistrust, EC tells SCDeccan Herald2024-05-22