Rule 93 amended to limit public inspection to papers 'specified in these rules'
On the Commission's recommendation, the Law Ministry notified the Conduct of Elections (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024 (S.O. 5517(E)). It inserted 'as specified in these rules' after 'papers' in Rule 93(2)(a), which narrowed public inspection and in effect excluded CCTV, webcasting and video records. Scroll reports the Commission proposed the change on 17 December, eight days after the High Court order, and the Gazette copy is digitally signed at 10:23 pm on 20 December.
Scroll, citing documents it obtained, reports that Law Ministry officers objected to the Commission's original wording (inserting 'statutory') and that the Commission cited the workload on returning officers. A Commission official told Scroll it had long planned to regulate access (via MediaNama). The topic slug 'rules' is used here although it is not in the brief's list; it is kept for the rules area to reconcile.
The CEC's 17 Aug 2025 press conference is filed as a response to the Mahadevapura charge; this charge's own notes record that it also answered the CCTV and machine-readable roll points. Rule 93, amended in December 2024, governs which election papers are open to public inspection.
See all charges and answers →- TIER 1 · PRIMARYNotification S.O. 5517(E): Conduct of Elections (Second Amendment) Rules, 2024Gazette of India (Ministry of Law and Justice)2024-12-20“after the word “papers”, the words “as specified in these rules” shall be inserted”
- TIER 3 · PRESSElection conduct rules amended at lightning speed, despite objection by law officers, documents showScroll2025-06-11